Obesity took center stage on the first day of the 2026 J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, with industry frontrunners Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk providing supply chain, regulatory and pricing updates.
The 44th annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference is in full swing, with many of the industry’s biggest players providing retrospectives on the year that was while also laying out their strategies for the year to come. BioSpace takes a look at some of the biggest news from Day One.
Lilly Confident in Obesity Pill Supply, Doubles Down on AI With Nvidia Pact
With an FDA approval expected in the coming months, Eli Lilly remains confident that its supply chain can handle a coordinated global launch for its closely watched weight-loss pill orforglipron. Chief Scientific and Product Officer Daniel Skovronsky told Reuters at JPM that the pharma plans to “launch in many, many countries . . . as quickly as possible.”
In November last year, the FDA awarded orforglipron its Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher, which shortens the review period to 1–2 months, down from the usual 10–12 months. Analysts expect an approval by March 2026. Lilly plans to sell the drug at $150 per month, Skovronsky told Reuters. “We’ve spent billions of dollars in science here, and tens of billions of dollars to build factories to make this. Then we’re offering it at Starbucks pricing.”
Also at JPM, Lilly unveiled a partnership with AI leader Nvidia to launch a co-innovation lab that will leverage machine learning to address some of the biggest challenges in pharma.
Compounders Continue to Hound Novo
While Lilly painted a rosy picture for its obesity portfolio, fellow weight-loss leader Novo Nordisk reported that compounded and unapproved versions of its GLP-1 drugs continue to eat into its revenues.
At a panel at JPM, CEO Mike Doustdar estimated that around 1.5 million U.S. patients are using compounded versions of Wegovy and Ozempic, Reuters reported, highlighting how drug pricing can heavily influence consumers. These patients don’t actively seek out unapproved and unsafe compounded drugs, Doustdar insisted. Rather, compounders “grabbed a part of the consumers that simply were price sensitive.”
The CEO said Novo is learning the lessons of its compounding problem and will apply these to its patient engagement and pricing strategies moving forward, according to Reuters. The pharma last month won the FDA’s approval for an oral version of Wegovy. The drug launched last week with a monthly out-of-pocket cost as low as $149 for the 1.5-mg and 4-mg doses. Higher doses cost as much as $299 per month.
All Eyes Still on Eylea as Regeneron Pushes on With Muscle Preservation
A high-dose version of Regeneron’s eye injection Eylea appears to finally be gaining steam. In the fourth quarter of 2024, the high-dose formulation made $506 million, a 66% year-on-year increase, CEO Leonard Schleifer said during a company presentation at JPM.
More tellingly, analysts at BMO Capital Markets said in a Monday note that Eylea HD beat the analyst consensus by $60 million, indicating that “conversion to the high dose product may be accelerating.” A pre-filled syringe version of the injection is expected to undergo regulatory review this year, the group added, noting that it could lead to “more robust uptake” if approved.
Indeed, Schleifer at the conference revealed that “the mix of our franchise net sales has been steadily shifting towards Eylea HD since launch with Eylea HD now comprising nearly half of net sales.” All told, Regeneron’s Eylea franchise made $1.1 billion last year.
Regeneron at JPM also doubled down on its obesity plans. This year, the pharma expects to launch a late-stage monotherapy program for its GIP/GLP-1 therapy olatorepatide, as well as report additional muscle preservation data for the combination of semaglutide with trevogrumab and garetosmab, according to a company presentation.
BridgeBio Delivers ‘Surprise’ Q4 Beat With Attruby
Also presenting strong sales numbers at JPM was BridgeBio Pharma, which revealed that in the fourth quarter of 2024, transthyretin amyloid cardiomyopathy (ATTR-CM) drug Attruby hit net product revenues of $146 million. Analysts at Truist Securities called this sales figure a “surprise” beat for Attruby in a Monday note, representing a 35% quarter-on-quarter growth. The uptick, they added, was driven by “an acceleration in the momentum of new patient adds.”
There were 6,629 unique patient prescriptions as of Dec. 31, 2025, BridgeBio reported, which Truist said was up nearly a thousand from 5,259 from Oct. 25, 2025. “We are particularly encouraged in the 4Q growth relative to the competition,” the analysts noted, pointing to the approximately 20% quarter-on-quarter sales increase for Alnylam’s Amvuttra.
The FDA approved Attruby for ATTR-CM in November 2024. The therapy has since rapidly ramped up, doubling its prescription figures to 1,028 by February 2025.
