00:00Tell us about this report and why now? Why look into this trend right now?
00:05Thanks so much for having me. It's great to be here. You know, one of the reasons why is we
00:10have
00:10a large healthcare practice, a dedicated team that specializes in it. And we like to make sure
00:16we stay ahead of a lot of the topics and conversations that impact those businesses.
00:21So for us, looking at GLP-1s, we've all certainly seen a lot of conversation around how it impacts
00:26consumer purchasing and grocery store sales. But we really wanted to dig in and understand
00:32the implications for the healthcare industry. And many of the things that we found were quite
00:37surprising to us. Like what? You know, I'll start with bariatric surgeries. If we look at the rate
00:44of bariatric surgeries between 2022 and 2024, we saw them decline by over 30%. And that was at a time
00:52where we saw GLP usage rise by about 120%. So bariatric surgery has really been a go-to for
00:59managing late stage obesity and helping to bring that weight down. And when we look at the impact
01:06of GLP-1s, really a game changer in terms of results and being able to help people get that weight
01:12off in
01:12a very effective manner. So being able to use that pharmaceutical off-ramp to avoid surgery is
01:19certainly a nice outcome for many people. Conversely though, on the other side, we do see
01:23people that were not able to get the bariatric surgery, but the GLP-1s are allowing them to get
01:30to a healthier weight that allows that surgery to be possible.
01:34So great for people, right? But, you know, when I think about healthcare, great for people and great
01:43and probably extending their lives in so many different ways. But I do think about the impact too,
01:46on like healthcare systems and hospital systems, right? If they're doing less surgeries.
01:54Absolutely. And I think what we have to look at is understand that this is a long-term solution
02:00to obesity. So it can take time for these drugs to take effect, to have impact. So certainly a lot
02:07of
02:07the care that these patients receive will be ongoing. It's going to be a slow off-ramp for them,
02:12but it's also nice to be able to have some other solutions and open the doors for others who have
02:18been battling obesity and some of the complications with it. I think for hospitals, it's an opportunity
02:24to really change the game and maybe the profit centers for helping these patients. So it can become
02:31more about outpatient services, medication management, management of side effects, and really you're on these
02:38weight loss drugs for life. So the ongoing help and support to patients.
02:43How are the drugs reshaping what pharmaceutical companies choose to pursue and do research on?
02:51You know, that's a great question and it's an interesting one. We can see that the late stage
02:55pipeline of pharmaceutical R&D is heavily weighted towards GLP-1s. And it's not necessarily just for
03:03obesity. We are seeing other opportunities coming out of these drugs and potential opportunities.
03:08One is the treatment of substance abuse, specifically alcohol abuse. And so we're seeing
03:13some research going into that. We've certainly heard about maybe some positive results around
03:18Parkinson's disease and dementia. So I think expanding and understanding these drugs and how
03:25they can help with other disorders is really a focus for some of these manufacturers.
03:30Okay. I feel like, Robin, I'm the Debbie Downer here. I'm just going to go there. No, I've kidded
03:37with our reporter, Madison Muller, who has covered this space extensively and so smartly, but it does
03:42feel like this is the drug that can cure so much that ails us. Having said that, it's also a
03:47reminder
03:47that having extra weight or being obese is a problem for your health. It's a reality. And I don't want
03:54to get into how that can get people uncomfortable about criticizing that. But it's just a fact of
04:01life, right, in terms of your health. But the other thing, what I'm thinking about is how does
04:07the emphasis and stress on GLP-1s maybe crowd out R&D spending on other drugs that also need to
04:14be
04:15discovered?
04:17You know, so they're taking up a bigger share of the late stage R&D pipeline. That doesn't
04:22necessarily mean that they're taking up dollars. So we can see that GLP drugs have outpaced oncology,
04:30you know, as a percentage of R&D spend. But that doesn't mean that those dollars towards
04:34oncology have diminished. In fact, they haven't. So I think what we're seeing is that we have a very
04:41widespread problem, specifically here in the U.S. with 40% of U.S. adults classified as obese. It's
04:48a medical diagnosis. And so finding treatment for this population, as you said, it's all aspects of
04:55their health. So there's a cardiovascular element to this too. So it's really not just a weight loss
05:01drug. It's a cardiometabolic drug. And so it can be a game changer towards the health and prevention
05:07for many, many people, impacting several that can benefit from this drug and enjoy a much healthier
05:14life.
05:14I've seen it directly, like impact people and just they are so much healthier. And it's just
05:19their outlook and situation is so much better.
05:22Yeah. I mean, Robin, what are the, this is pivoting a little bit, but I do want to ask,
05:27what are the investment implications from this report? What do investors need to know?
05:32You know, I think we're looking at a situation where it's heavily weighted towards these drugs.
05:37And so any sort of disruption that could happen, supply constraints, those would ripple through
05:43and they would have an impact maybe broader than most people would expect. I do think there's a lot
05:48of research still to be done. And so the fact that there's money and capital going into it
05:53is a good thing. The other good thing is we are seeing the results. And so it is very promising
05:59in
05:59many areas. I'm encouraged by the investment, but I would just caution that it could have some larger
06:04impact should any hiccups happen along the way.
06:07You know, one of the things I wanted to ask you, like orthopedics or something like that,
06:12where losing weight or being slimmer can be better on your joints. It's not so much stress and so on
06:17and so forth. So maybe there's less demand for surgeries or so on. But at the same time,
06:23if GLP-1s, which is a good thing, is enabling folks to live longer and being a drug that's so
06:30productive and helping a lot of different things that certainly age an individual that might
06:36orthopedics benefit because we're just around longer and we're going to all need kind of an
06:41overhaul. Yeah, I think it's an excellent point. And I don't think the data has settled on that yet.
06:46So, you know, on one hand, one of the side effects of long-term obesity is that we're
06:51in tearing the joints. It's the knee replacement, the hip replacements. If we're able to prevent
06:55the weight and keep the weight off, that could, in theory, reduce the need for those extra
07:02interventions. However, you know, as you point out, you become healthier, you lose weight,
07:07you can become more active. You know, we can see a whole new slew of runners out there
07:11and people embracing, you know, exercise. So it's a mixed bag. And I'll go back to the opportunity
07:18that that weight loss presents. Again, people who wouldn't otherwise qualify for the surgery
07:25now it opens the doors for them as well by allowing them to lose weight and get a little healthier.
Comments