Blockbusters Are Back: 3 Things the GLP-1 Boom Means for All Brands

Cargo pants, bucket hats, and blockbusters: the resurgence of the 1990s is complete.

No, not the video rental stores. No need to “be kind, rewind” anymore. The pharma kind of blockbusters. The ones that came on the scene in the 1990s.

The number of blockbuster drugs (those with annual revenue of at least $1 billion), has more than quadrupled since 2000. And in the last couple of years, that trend has centered on one particular drug class. Even those of us who work on brands outside diabetes and weight management are used to seeing headlines with three letters in them: G-L-P.

(If you’re one of those people who don’t work in those areas, you might be wondering… what exactly is a GLP-1? They’re drugs (mostly injectable) that mimic the action of a hormone [glucagon-like peptide 1, hence the name] in the pancreas. The first GLP-1 was approved by the FDA in 2005, and there are now seven available. Different GLP-1’s have been approved not only for type 2 diabetes (they stimulate the body to produce more insulin after you eat) and obesity (they can cause you to eat less, and remain full longer), but also reducing major cardiovascular events in patients with type 2 diabetes (they can improve blood flow). They’re also being studied for neurodegenerative conditions like Huntington’s, Alzheimer’s, and Parkinson’s diseases.

So that’s what they do. And that’s why Science named GLP-1 drugs the Breakthrough of the Year for 2023. (Fair balance: they’re not magic, of course – they have side effects, like most medications, and links to thyroid cancer among other concerns are being studied.)

More than 10% of people in the United States have diabetes, and another 30% have prediabetes. Similarly, 42% of Americans are obese. There’s overlap – the majority of people with diabetes are also overweight or obese – but the point is, these are very common conditions.

And so that’s why they’re blockbusters.

This year, GLP-1’s will overtake PD-1 inhibitors as the top-selling drug class, and J.P. Morgan Research expects that the GLP-1 sales may be more than $100 billion by 2030.

But what does this mean for other brands – even ones outside the GLP-1 competitive spaces?

First, it’s a demonstration of how complicated and powerful market access is. As popular as these medications are, MM&M noted recently that while wider payer coverage could benefit GLP-1s, “payers aren’t likely to begin putting these GLP-1 treatments on formulary right away.” The very fact that so many people may be eligible for treatment can make coverage challenging, as the article notes. It’s never too soon, or too late, to weave market access more fully into your plans.

Second, GLP-1’s are reminding us of what creative can do, and how many fronts it can work on. Manufacturers are developing ads, campaigns, even documentaries that address the concerns of availability; the stigma and risks associated with obesity; and more. When a medication is in the zeitgeist, the conversation is always going to get complicated, and it’s impossible to make an impact without emotional, engaging creative that connects.

Third, and most of all: the advent of the GLP-1 blockbusters are yet another reminder in this decade that we have to write our long-term plans in pencil. In an industry forecast five years ago, would most people have given much attention to diabetes injectables? (Or, for that matter, to vaccines?)

It’s only human to think of the world in terms of what we know now. But who knows what will be discovered. New drug classes that will change our work and change our lives are waiting to be discovered.