Corporate America weighs business impact of new weight-loss drugs

NEW YORK, Nov 10 (Reuters): US companies across sectors such as food and beverage makers and manufacturers of glucose monitors are facing investor questions over the risk to future sales from the growing popularity of promising weight-loss treatments.

Drugs in a class known as GLP-1 such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Ozempic as well as Eli Lilly's Mounjaro have been shown to help control blood sugar and dramatically lower weight in clinical trials.

The US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday approved Eli Lilly's Zepbound for weight loss, giving the drugmaker an official entry into the market.

Mounjaro, which uses the same active ingredient, was approved for diabetes patients last year, but some consumers were using it off-label for weight loss.

Here's what companies have said about the potential impact:

Conagra might consider changing portion sizes of its snacks if the rising use of weight-loss drugs leads to a change in food consumption patterns.

Walmart expects revenues from its health and wellness products to increase in the second half of the year, mainly due to the popularity of weight-loss drugs.

PepsiCo Chief Financial Officer Hugh Johnston has said the company is "not seeing any impact" yet from the popularity of weight-loss drugs.

Coca-Cola CEO James Quincey said the company was monitoring what impact, if any weight-loss drugs will have.

Hershey's CEO Michele Buck said the use of the drugs was not materially impacting the chocolate maker's business.

Keurig Dr Pepper CEO Robert Gamgort said it was not seeing any impact from the use of the drugs on coffee consumption.

Germany's Fresenius Medical Care, said that use of Ozempic and other drugs of the same class would have an overall neutral effect on how many patients would require its kidney dialysis services in the future.