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At the end of a seemingly ubiquitous commercial for telehealth company Ro, a characteristically flabbergasted Charles Barkley speaks for us all when he remarks, “Wait, you’re telling me they have a GLP-1 pill for weight loss now?” They do – and it turns out to be as wildly popular as its injectable predecessors. (Tirrell, 3/19)

Novo Nordisk said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a higher dosage of its Wegovy weight-loss medication, a boost for the Danish drugmaker as it faces growing competition in the obesity market. The group said Thursday that the FDA had expedited approval of the Wegovy injection with a higher dose based on results from a trial that showed 20.7% mean weight loss for participants with obesity. (Look and Orru, 3/19)

The blockbuster weight loss drug sold as Ozempic and Wegovy will soon go generic in countries that are home to 40 percent of the world’s population, significantly lowering the price of a costly medicine that had been largely unaffordable to nearly all but the wealthiest people. On Saturday, Novo Nordisk, the company that until now has had a monopoly on selling the drug, will lose patent protection in several of the world’s most populous countries. The first generic versions are expected to arrive in India as soon as this weekend. In the coming months, the generics are also expected to become available in China, Canada, Brazil, Turkey and South Africa. (Robbins, Tobin, Nelson, Travelli and K.B., 3/19)

One of Eli Lilly & Co.’s most highly anticipated experimental medicines helped diabetic patients lose more weight than any drug currently on the market, underscoring its potential in the increasingly crowded race for next-generation therapies. Patients on the highest dose of the drug, called retatrutide, lost 15.3% of their body weight on average using a measure that includes those who discontinued treatment, Lilly said in a statement Thursday. The late-stage results handily beat earlier trials of the company’s diabetes blockbuster Mounjaro. (Muller, 3/19)

The companies developing new weight-loss medicines have a problem: the balance of power has shifted, and patients are bailing out of their clinical trials. People who don’t lose weight can quickly figure out that they were assigned to take a placebo instead of the real drug. And with highly effective obesity medications on the market — Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy shot and pill — that are getting cheaper, there’s little reason to stay in a study that doesn’t yield the intended benefits. (Muller, Furlong and Kresge, 3/19)

A molecule produced in abundance by pythons following a large meal could hold the key to developing a new class of weight loss drugs with fewer side effects, according to a study published Thursday by researchers at the University of Colorado Boulder and two other institutions. (Ingold, 3/19)

The FDA approved linerixibat (Lynavoy) as the first drug indicated for cholestatic pruritus stemming from primary biliary cholangitis (PBC), drugmaker GSK announced on Thursday. PBC is a rare but serious autoimmune disease where bile flow from the liver is disrupted. The vast majority (89%) of PBC patients experience an internal itch -- thought to result from bile acids in circulation -- that affects sleep, quality of life, and is sometimes so debilitating it can necessitate transplant even in the absence of liver failure. (Ingram, 3/19)

Novartis said Friday it was buying an experimental breast cancer drug from Delaware-based Synnovation Therapeutics for $2 billion upfront. The deal includes includes up to another $1 billion if the drug reaches certain milestones. (Joseph, 3/20)

Kristin Leite, 38, spends about an hour organizing her “stack” for the week. “In the morning, I take four powders and about five capsules,” said Leite, an esthetician who lives in Tampa, Fla. She pops around five more in the afternoon, and at night she swallows six or seven capsules. (O'Brien, 3/18)

Verily raised a $300 million investment round to accelerate its work in artificial intelligence and precision health as it also moves out from under the corporate umbrella of Alphabet. The massive round was led by Series X Capital, and includes an investment from Alphabet, who will remain a significant minority investor, but will no longer have a controlling stake in the company, Verily said in a press release. (Landi, 3/19)

Perplexity is making its debut on the consumer health market. The artificial intelligence-enabled search engine announced the launch of Perplexity Health, which looks to provide users with personalized responses to health questions. The AI tool relies on medical literature and user-provided patient records to answer health-related inquiries. It also offers an individualized dashboard with insight on users’ behavioral patterns such as their sleep and activity levels. (Famakinwa, 3/19)