Novartis has opted not to pursue a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) drug, despite interest from various biotech companies. At the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, Ronny Gal, Novartis’ chief strategy and growth officer, discussed the company’s approach to GLP-1s and similar “me-too” products.
“I will not tell you the number of emails or conversations I had around, ‘Wouldn’t you like to have a GLP-1 with 2% better efficacy than the existing leading compounds? My product is a month-long versus a week-long, things like that,” Gal told BioSpace.
Gal compared the proliferation of GLP-1 drugs to trends in China’s pharmaceutical market, where innovation sometimes results in only minor improvements over established therapies. “The trap of me-too is not unique to China,” he said, referencing his can of Pepsi as an example of a me-too product.
He explained that while acquiring a me-too drug can reduce scientific and developmental risks—since there are precedents and regulatory pathways already established—it increases commercial risk. Companies must consider whether patients or providers will switch to their product and if there is enough market share left for new entrants. Gal stated that these commercial risks can take longer to become apparent compared to more binary development risks.
“As a pharma company, we want to make sure that the leadership team at Novartis does our jobs to make sure we balance out those risks,” he said. “So me-too is something that we will do, but we will basically do less commonly, because we do not want to be in a situation where all our risk is commercial risk.”
Novartis has not dismissed the potential of GLP-1 drugs or weight loss treatments entirely. However, Gal emphasized that any asset would need to show significant advantages over current leaders such as Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy before Novartis would consider entering the space.
“But it is an area that is very well served by existing companies,” Gal said. “We are yet to see a transaction in that area that makes sense for us to go into.”
Pricing also plays a role in Novartis’ decision-making process. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have reduced prices on their therapies, making them more accessible even as insurance coverage remains inconsistent. Gal noted this consumer impact when discussing market dynamics.
“The argument that the core demand of patients is not being met is not what we’re convinced about,” he said. “I think [for the] majority of patients, the current generation of GLP-1s are probably good enough.”
Currently, about 30 similar compounds are being tested in clinical trials. Novo Nordisk recently introduced an oral version of Wegovy with advertising campaigns highlighting its convenience.
Gal pointed out that obesity treatment represents one large disease area with few niche indications—unlike oncology where multiple tumor types allow for specialized therapies. He added that most people respond similarly to GLP-1s except for some tolerability differences among patients.
“What’s the saying? A smart person can get out of trouble. A wise person wouldn’t walk into [it]. . . . We simply try to be thoughtful about the kind of risk we’re taking, and that one, we just can’t find an asset that makes sense for us.”
