Rising Obesity Drug... Eli Lilly Market Cap Surpasses Tesla

Global pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, which developed the innovative obesity treatment 'Zepbound', has surpassed Tesla in market capitalization.

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On the 25th (local time), Eli Lilly's market capitalization listed on the New York Stock Exchange was recorded at $595.8 billion (approximately 796 trillion KRW) at the close of trading. Tesla's market capitalization shrank to $580.6 billion (approximately 776 trillion KRW) as about $80 billion evaporated in a single day due to slowing electric vehicle sales forecasts.

As a result, Eli Lilly rose to 7th place in the U.S. market capitalization rankings that day, while Tesla fell to 9th place.

Bloomberg reported, "The fact that Eli Lilly has surpassed Tesla reflects a shift in investor interest toward obesity treatments." In fact, alongside artificial intelligence (AI), obesity treatments were a major global industry focus last year.

Eli Lilly discovered that its diabetes drug Mounjaro had weight loss effects and developed an obesity treatment called Zepbound. It received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) as an obesity treatment in November last year.

In clinical trials, Zepbound was even evaluated as superior to 'Wegovy,' known as a miracle obesity treatment. In clinical trials where the drug was administered for 72 weeks, the treatment group showed a 24.5% weight loss compared to the placebo group. Zepbound is the only obesity treatment showing over 20% weight reduction; Wegovy's effect is 15%.

Eli Lilly's stock price surged 59% last year alone and has risen 7.7% so far this year. As obesity becomes a major global health threat and demand for treatments explodes, Wall Street experts expect Eli Lilly's corporate value to continue rising in the future.

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