The CEO of Structure Therapeutics (GPCR.US), Raymond Stevens, expressed in an interview at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday that although the company's experimental weight-loss drug has not yet been approved, he is already concerned about a potential influx of generic versions into the market. In the years following the launch of weight-loss injections by Eli Lilly (LLY.US) and Novo Nordisk (NVO.US), patients turned to generic or compounded alternatives due to supply shortages. While these shortages have subsided and the production and sale of such drugs by pharmacies is illegal, the proliferation of generics persists. Part of the appeal lies in their typically lower cost. Novo Nordisk's CEO, Mike Doustdar, stated this week that as many as 1.5 million American patients might be using compounded weight-loss medications. This situation presents challenges not only for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly but also for smaller companies like Structure Therapeutics, which aim to enter the obesity market in the coming years. However, Stevens believes that Structure's drug, aleniglipron, is a small-molecule compound with a more complex production process, making it inherently more difficult to replicate. He pointed out that Eli Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy are peptide-based drugs, which are easier to copy. Pharmaceutical manufacturers argue that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not done enough to curb the spread of generic drugs. In a statement issued in September, the agency indicated that, to prevent the importation of potentially dangerous active ingredient copies (such as those used in drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound), it would publish a list of overseas suppliers that meet its standards. Compounding pharmacies use these raw materials to produce their own branded generic versions.
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