Eli Lilly to trial use of weight loss drugs to combat unemployment in UK

LONDON — U.S. pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly is exploring whether obesity drugs could be used to curb joblessness after signing a major investment deal with the U.K.

The weight-loss treatment firm and creator of Zepbound announced Monday that it would commit £279 million ($364 million) to help tackle Britain's significant health challenges — including obesity.

The "strategic collaboration," agreed with the U.K.'s Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC) and the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology (DSIT), came as part of a wider £63 billion package of investments announced at the close of the Labour government's inaugural International Investment Summit on Monday.

The Eli Lilly deal will see the company launch a "real-world" study to understand how tirzepatide — the GLP-1 treatment behind its Zepbound and Mounjaro drugs — impacts weight loss, diabetes prevention, and prevention of obesity-related complications, to better inform the National Health Services' treatment of obesity.

Within that, the five-year trial, conducted in collaboration with Health Innovation Manchester, will also explore how weight-loss drugs impact "participants' employment status and sick days from work," the company said in a press release.

"This collaboration will add to the evidence base on the real world impact of obesity treatments on the health of people with obesity, and will explore a broad range of outcomes including health-related quality of life and impact on individuals' employment status," professor Rachel Batterham, senior vice president for International Medical Affairs at Lilly, said.

The U.K.'s Health and Social Care Minister Wes Streeting said the partnership was "key to building a healthier society, healthier economy, and making the NHS fit for the future." 

The U.K. is battling a stubbornly high rate of "economic inactivity," defined as those neither working nor looking for a job. Almost a third of claims are attributed to long-term sickness, including pre-existing health conditions, such as obesity, which has been exacerbated by Covid.

Writing in an article in the Telegraph on Monday, Streeting said "widening waistbands" had placed a "significant burden" on the NHS and the economy, and was costing the health service £11 billion a year.

"It's holding back our economy," he wrote. "Illness caused by obesity causes people to take an extra four sick days a year on average, while many others are forced out of work altogether."

Streeting noted that the jabs could be "monumental" in tackling obesity and getting people back to work, but added that the "NHS can't be expected to always pick up the tab for unhealthy lifestyles."

CNBC reached out to the DHSC, who said the minister's comments "fully reflect" the government's position.

The use cases for obesity drugs have been growing over recent months, with several drug regulators expanding GLP-1 drug labels for use in treating obesity-related comorbidities and other illnesses.

Speaking to CNBC last week, Citi pharmaceuticals analyst Peter Verdault said the body of evidence to support increased use of weight-loss drugs "keeps coming."

However, some medical professionals expressed concern over drawing an association between health treatments and economic outcomes.

"[There are] some serious ethical, financial and efficacy considerations with such an approach … Such as looking at people, or measuring people based on their potential economic value, rather than primarily based on their needs and their health needs," Dr Dolly van Tulleken, a visiting researcher at the MRC epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge and specialist in obesity policy, told BBC Radio 4's Today program on Tuesday.

Eli Lilly's investment will also see the company launch its first "Lilly Gateway Labs" innovation accelerator in Europe to support early-stage life sciences businesses to develop transformative medicines and technologies. 

The company said it anticipates making an additional £279 million of new investment into the U.K. over the coming years.