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5 Pharma Companies In the Booming Weight Loss Industry

GLP-1 Weight Loss Drugs are Taking Over!

Author

James Yeo
October 02, 2025

GLP-1 medications is the next phase of growth for pharmaceutical companies.

And it could be explosive

So, we are going to take a look at the 5 front-runners in this GLP-1 weight loss boom story. And who knows? Maybe all of us might need them in the future with the current trends of obesity.

Before we continue, we would just like to explain some technical terms here.

  • HbA1C is a test to measure the blood sugar levels for the past 90 days, and is most commonly used by the medical industry to look at Diabetes.

  • Anything above 5.5% is considered pre-diabetic, and anything above 6.0% is diabetic.

  • A reduction of 1.0% in HbA1c count means that it has reduced from 7.0% to 6.0% which is a significant progress.

The 5 Companies We Are Looking At

1. Novo Nordisk $NVO ( ▲ 6.63% )  

Novo Nordisk is a Danish pharmaceutical company that researches, develops and sells medicine and drugs for serious diseases like diabetes.

  • Its main market is the U.S. (58% of revenue), followed by Europe (21%) and China (6%).

  • Diabetes and obesity are their main business segment at 93% of revenue, with the others being growth disorders, hemophilia, sickle cell, cardiovascular and others.

Its main offerings of weight loss drugs are

Novo Nordisk has been growing rapidly in the past five years.

  • Revenue more than doubled from DK$127 billion in 2020 to DK$290 billion in 2024.

  • Profits are the same - DK$42 billion to DK$101 billion.

Dividend yield is currently at 3.1% while price-to-earnings ratio (PER) is at 14.4 times (historical average: 34.1 times).

Analyst target price at DK$451 with upside of +25%.

2. Eli Lily and Co $LLY ( ▲ 8.18% )  

Eli Lily and Co is involved in researching and selling medicine and drugs in the cancer, dermatology, autoimmune, sleep apnea, diabetes, obesity and Alzheimer’s.

  • U.S. contributes 68% of revenue, followed by Europe (15%) and Japan (4%)

Its list of GLP-1 weight loss drugs are

Eli Lily and Co’s financial results have also been impressive

  • Revenue nearly doubled to US$45 billion in 2024 from US$24.5 billion in 2020.

  • Profits the same: US$10.6 billion in 2024 from US$6.2 billion in 2020

Dividend yield is at 0.8% with a PER of 49 times (historical average: 63 times).

Analysts have the company at a target price of US$905 with an upside of +27%.

Amgen researches and manufactures medicines for cancer, heart disease, osteoporosis, inflammatory diseases and rare diseases.

  • Main business in the United States at 71% of revenue.

  • Biggest segment is General Medicine, followed by Oncology, Inflamation and Rare Diseases.

It currently only has one GLP-1 weight loss drug which is MariTide (injection-type)

Amgen is a relatively new entrant into the weight loss market and is focused on other disease categories. That said, its financial performance was solid.

  • It recorded an 18% growth in its revenue in 2024. An average of 9.5% for the two quarters of 2025.

  • Profit for the 2Q 2025 has doubled to US$1.4 billion from a year ago.

It is currently trading at a dividend yield of 3.5% and a PER of 22.8 times (historical average: 23 times).

Who could forget the famous Covid-19 vaccine?

Pfizer develops and sells pharmaceutical products in the cardiovascular, infectious disease, migraine and others.

  • Main country contributor is the U.S. (61% of revenue).

  • Top drugs are Eliquis (12%), Prevnar (10%), Paxlovid (9%), Vyndaquel (9%).

Pfizer’s weight loss drug portfolio could come from its proposed acquisition of Metsera. Two are currently under studies and are the most promising

Pfizer’s financial fortunes needs to be put into context for proper analysis

  • From 2020 to 2022, Covid-19 happened. Pfizer’s revenue more than doubled to US$100 billion due to a sharp increase in Covid-19 sales.

  • However, from 2023 to 2024, as demand for vaccines declined. Pfizer’s revenue also declined to US$63.6 billion.

Covid-19 vaccines rollout was a one-off thing and hence, it makes sense that Pfizer is back to business as usual.

Dividend yield is at 7.3% with a PER of 12.8 times (historical average: 17 times).

Target price is at US$28.7 with an upside of +21.5%.

5. Roche Holding $RHHBY ( ▲ 7.22% )  

Roche Holding is a Swiss Pharmaceutical company producing medicines and diagnostic services for oncology, diabetes immunology, and neuroscience.

  • Main market is the U.S. (48%), Europe (16%), and Asia (15%)

  • Its pharmaceutical segment makes up 77% of revenue, followed by diagnostic services.

its GLP-1 weight loss drugs portfolio include

Roche Holding can be said as a stable company with steady business growth.

  • Revenue has grown by 3% in 2024 to US$60.5 billion. It has been up and down but generally has been at around the US$60 billion mark from 2020 to 2024.

  • However, profits have continued to decline for four straight years.

Dividend yield is at 3.6% with a PER of 22.8 times (historical average: 19.7 times).

Analysts in the market have Roche at a target price of CHF291.8 and an upside of +8.7%.

Cheers,

James Yeo