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- Who's Winning The $86.7B Obesity Therepeutics Boom
Who's Winning The $86.7B Obesity Therepeutics Boom
The $86.7B obesity drug boom is redefining healthcare, as pharma giants and investors race to turn a global health crisis into the next trillion-dollar opportunity.
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Good morning, ! This week we’re diving into the $86.7B Obesity Therapeutics Market, 3D printing in healthcare is growing at a 16% CAGR, Swiss giant Novartis acquires Avidity Biosciences for $12B, and North America keeps the lead in AI applications to healthcare.
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DATA DIVE
Obesity Drugs: From Niche to Megatrend
GLP-1s aren’t just making headlines—they’re building a market. The global obesity therapeutics sector is set to balloon from $20B today to $87B by 2030, with McKinsey projecting up to $280B by 2040. That’s not just a CAGR—it’s a full redefinition of obesity from lifestyle issue to chronic disease with blockbuster margins. The U.S. leads in spend (nearly 50% of global revenue) but reimbursement gaps remain: just 55% of plans cover GLP-1s. Meanwhile, Phase 2 programs alone pulled in $5.7B in transactions this year, with China rising fast as both innovator and dealmaker. TLDR: obesity isn’t just a public health crisis—it’s a pharma gold rush.
TREND OF THE WEEK
From Innovation to Intervention: Pharma’s Real Growth Curve
The European pharmaceutical sector isn’t just aging gracefully—it’s aging into a biotech beast. Driven by cell and gene therapies, the industry is no longer content with just controlling chronic conditions. It’s aiming to cure them. Europe leads in pharma R&D investment, with Germany, Switzerland, and France punching above their GDP weight. This isn’t charity—it’s calculated progress. The sector has already extended European life expectancy by up to 30 years since 1920, and it’s setting its sights on Alzheimer’s, MS, and rare diseases next. The TLDR: the pharma industry isn’t just a health story. It’s a private equity thesis with a clinical trial. (More)
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HEALTHTECH CORNER
3D Printing Hits the Healthcare Growth Curve
The 3D printing market in healthcare is entering a compound-growth phase. From $2.0B in 2025, it's projected to quadruple to $8.7B by 2034, according to Precedence Research—a 16.3% CAGR across the decade.
What was once an experimental edge case is now a commercial strategy. Hospitals and device makers are scaling use cases like patient-specific implants, bioprinted tissues, and custom surgical tools. Regulatory bodies are also catching up, with frameworks around device validation and biocompatibility accelerating adoption.
The implications: IP-rich medtech startups will become hot targets, especially those with FDA-cleared platforms or proprietary bio-inks. For investors, this is a capital-light manufacturing revolution with defensible moats and reimbursement upside.
Bottom line: 3D printing in healthcare is no longer R&D theater—it’s becoming standard operating procedure. The decade ahead will be about scaling production, not just prototypes.
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DEAL OF THE WEEK
Novartis Bets $12B on RNA Muscle Science
Swiss pharma giant Novartis is flexing its neuroscience muscle with a $12 billion all-cash acquisition of Avidity Biosciences, the RNA therapeutics pioneer behind the Antibody Oligonucleotide Conjugates (AOCs™) platform. The move adds three late-stage programs targeting genetic neuromuscular diseases — including DM1, FSHD, and DMD — and boosts Novartis’ xRNA strategy with a first-in-disease pipeline.
Why it matters: Beyond expanding Novartis’ neuroscience franchise, the deal is expected to lift its 2024–2029 sales CAGR from +5% to +6%, unlocking multi-billion-dollar opportunities ahead of 2030. Avidity will spin out its early-stage cardiology programs into “SpinCo” before closing, slated for H1 2026.
The bottom line: Novartis isn’t just buying science—it’s buying speed. With this deal, the pharma heavyweight doubles down on RNA’s next big leap: delivering genetic precision straight to muscle. (More)
REGIONAL FOCUS
North America: AI’s New Healthcare Headquarters
North America isn’t just leading in AI healthcare adoption—it’s building the rulebook. The region captured the largest market share in 2024, thanks to its mature healthcare, IT, and telecom infrastructure, and a government that’s unusually friendly toward digital transformation. With over half of Americans managing chronic diseases, hospitals are overflowing with data that must go digital, fueling AI demand. Meanwhile, Asia Pacific is speeding up from behind—governments there are bankrolling smart hospitals and pushing data privacy innovation. The takeaway: while North America sets the pace, Asia Pacific is shaping the next sprint. (More)
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