Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told CNBC that the company expects Medicare to begin covering its experimental obesity pill, orforglipron, immediately following its planned launch. This change comes under drug pricing agreements negotiated with the Trump administration and represents the first time Medicare will cover prescription obesity medications. Ricks noted that many early adopters of Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 obesity treatment have paid cash due to patchy insurance coverage, and he believes broad Medicare reimbursement will expand access substantially. Lilly is preparing for a full commercial launch in the second quarter and expects the new coverage policy to be a major catalyst for uptake, particularly among patients new to GLP-1 therapies.

On Friday, Lilly announced a $3.5 billion investment to build a manufacturing facility in the Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania, its fourth new U.S. site announced since early 2025. The plant will produce next-generation obesity injectables, including retatrutide, which in late-stage trials has produced the highest weight-loss results recorded to date. Construction is slated to begin this year, with operations expected by 2031. The project will create approximately 850 permanent roles—spanning engineers, scientists, technicians and operations staff—and 2,000 construction jobs. This facility is part of Lilly’s broader commitment to invest at least $27 billion in new domestic manufacturing capacity, supplementing $23 billion invested since 2020.

Despite trailing Novo Nordisk in advertising outlays—Lilly spent an estimated $214 million on Zepbound and Mounjaro in the first nine months of 2025 versus Novo’s combined $487 million for Wegovy and Ozempic—Eli Lilly captured roughly 60% of the U.S. obesity drug market last year. IQVIA data cited by Reuters show that U.S. prescriptions for Zepbound surpassed those for Wegovy, a reflection of both strong clinical performance and targeted promotion. Lilly’s head-to-head trial data indicate that patients on Zepbound lost 47% more weight on average than those on Wegovy, underscoring the company’s ability to leverage clinical differentiation and efficient marketing spend to outpace a competitor with a much larger advertising budget.