The US has gone off its imperial dinner
Much has been made of Ozempic face. The eponymous visage resulting from monthly injections of a weight-dissolving amino acid has generated endless fodder for social media and the tabloids, which have revelled in the grotesqueries of John Goodman, Robbie Williams and the poster child of the gaunt and ghostly look — Sharon Osbourne. There’s nothing quite as stimulating of schadenfreude as the tell-tale sagging of fat-starved skin, a calamity that might be rectified by fillers such as Sculptra and Restylane, by drinking two quarts of water a day, or, God forbid, by eating lunch.
Despite the risk of public shame and the menace of non-reimbursable insurance cost ($1,349 a month for Wegovy and $1,060 a month for Zepbound), steep demand has sent the stock market valuations of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly through the stratosphere of the S&P 500. Not since the debut of Viagra has there been such hype in pharma, raising questions as to whether Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk can produce enough of the magical elixir, as demand outstrips supply.
