Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro sales surge as GLP‑1 weight‑loss drugs spark market and safety debate

Eli Lilly has expanded its LillyDirect home‑delivery service to all UK private weight‑management pharmacies, aiming to provide secure dispensing of its medicines such as Mounjaro. A Cambridge mouse study revealed that both activating and blocking the GIPR receptor in different brain regions can reduce food intake, offering mechanistic insight into obesity drug action.

Amgen announced it is ending early development of a phase‑1 obesity drug, shifting focus to its cholesterol medicine Repatha and increasing pressure on its own experimental obesity candidate, MariTide. Meanwhile, Lilly is offering compassionate‑use access to its experimental triple‑agonist retatrutide for a limited number of severely obese adults in the United States.

A large observational study of 50,000 GLP‑1 users identified new side effects, including hair loss, expanding the known safety profile of drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro. Influencer Jordyn Woods publicly criticized the Ozempic‑driven thinness trend, highlighting body‑positivity concerns.

Lilly reported that global sales of Mounjaro doubled to $18.6 billion in the first half of 2026, with Zepbound up 60 %, prompting an upgraded full‑year revenue outlook. A separate economic analysis found that GLP‑1 use did not produce measurable changes in mental health, employment, or marital status among adults with diabetes.