Obesity, diabetes treatments fuel Eli Lilly growth and spark bidding war

The market for obesity and diabetes treatments remains scorching hot, funneling billions in sales to Eli Lilly and spawning a bidding war over the drugmaker Metsera. Lilly said Thursday that its top-selling drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, brought in more than $10 billion combined during the recently completed third quarter. That made up over half of the drugmaker’s $17.6 billion in total sales. Separately, Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced plans to buy Metsera Inc. in a deal that could be worth up to $9 billion. That came more than a month after Pfizer Inc. made a nearly $5 billion bid.