Some are calling this year the Wellness Bowl. Oikos is promoting protein, Raisin Bran has an ad on gut health with William Shatner, and Liquid Death is touting hydration. PepsiCo is pushing its probiotic soda and zero-calorie offerings, while making its snacks cheaper and healthier. But the rock star will be GLP-1 drugs for weight loss.
Zachariah Reitano wants Americans to embrace GLP-1s as a lifelong wellness tool. The CEO of telehealth company Ro is running his first Super Bowl ad, in which tennis star Serena Williams talks about how GLP-1s improved her mobility, cholesterol, sugar levels, and weight. “People constantly hear about the weight loss component, but we wanted to tell 100‑plus million people that these products can do that and also so much more for your underlying health,” Reitano told me.
He’s not alone. With GLP-1s touted as the “first true longevity drugs,” a transformative force in health care, and now available in a pill form that makes the uninsured cost as low as $149 a month, the focus is shifting from being a weight loss boost to the foundation of a lifestyle program. Drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also planning campaigns in and around the Super Bowl to address the stigma around obesity drugs.
Such efforts could spur even wider use of GLP-1s, which accounted for more than 10% of annual health care claims for U.S. employers last year, creating a cost crisis. Despite the launch of cheaper pills, states like California and Pennsylvania stopped Medicaid coverage of GLP-1s for weight loss last month, and insurers are imposing restrictions.
GLP-1 providers are ready to do battle. Ro rival Hims & Hers has promoted GLP-1s as a right, not just a remedy. Last year, it ran a Super Bowl ad that accused drugmakers of price-gauging on the coveted drugs. This year, the telehealth player is targeting billionaires with the message, “rich people live longer.”
Ro’s Reitano sees the rumblings of a revolution, too. “The U.S. is this paradox: the peak of innovation and outcomes in many areas, but day‑to‑day and preventive care can be incredibly cumbersome or inaccessible,” he says. “GLP-1s are forcing an incredible rewiring of the health care system …. this bull in the china shop of our health care system’s incentive structure.” But first, he argues, “we have to remove the stigma around using them.”
Contact CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.com
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…and so does Disney
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S&P 500 futures are down 0.05% this morning. The last session closed down 0.84%. STOXX Europe 600 was down 0.24% in early trading. The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was up 0.62% in early trading. Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.78%. China’s CSI 300 was up 0.83%. The South Korea KOSPI was up 1.57%. India’s NIFTY 50 was up 0.24%. Bitcoin was at $76K.
Around the watercooler
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CEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams, Claire Zillman and Lee Clifford.
