Pharma Firms Focus Weight-Loss Drugs, Putting Insulin at Risk
The head of the Access to Medicine Foundation warned that the rush into GLP-1 weight-loss drugs could pull drugmakers away from insulin. Diabetes affects an estimated 589 million adults, 81% of them in low- and middle-income countries, according to the Netherlands-based group's report.
The head of the Access to Medicine Foundation has warned that pharma firms focus weight-loss drugs at the expense of diabetes treatments such as insulin, according to the Netherlands-based non-profit's latest biennial report, published November 10, 2026.
The foundation said companies have put greater emphasis on obesity than diabetes, even as GLP-1 medications such as Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Eli Lilly's Mounjaro have changed treatment for both conditions.
Many people still cannot get basic insulin, which is critical for people with type 1 diabetes, the group said. Many countries also struggle to obtain GLP-1 drugs at all.
Diabetes affects an estimated 589 million adults worldwide. Of those, 81% live in low- and middle-income countries such as Pakistan, Egypt and Jordan.
Jay Iyer, the foundation's chief executive, said the drugs are only beginning to reach those markets, and mostly for obesity. "You have a lot of attention on GLP-1s, but a lot of it is directed towards the obesity market, and that's not going to help people with type 1 diabetes," he said.
He also named a specific risk. "There is a risk that any of the three – Sanofi, [Eli] Lilly or Novo [Nordisk] – could leave the insulin market, and that will be disastrous for supply to insulin," Iyer said.
Companies can charge far higher prices and earn greater profit margins on weight-loss injections and pills than on insulin. Novo Nordisk has announced plans to phase out some older diabetes products, including insulin pens.
GLP-1 drugs are not registered in many lower-income countries. Where they are sold, high prices and a lack of equitable pricing measures put them out of reach for most people.
The medicines were first developed to manage type 2 diabetes by regulating blood sugar, slowing digestion and reducing appetite. Growing use for obesity has opened a large and lucrative market. Millions of people take them in the US and other wealthy countries.
The report found that most diabetes medicines in development focus on type 2 diabetes. Only 10 of the 25 target type 1 diabetes.
Switzerland's Novartis topped the foundation's global health equity ranking again, knocking the UK's GSK off first place last time. British drugmaker AstraZeneca rose to third, with access plans for almost all its late-stage drugs.
Nearly two-thirds of cancer drugs are covered by measures to make them available in poorer countries. Iyer said progress has been made over 20 years of the index, and access is now part of corporate strategy at some companies. It is sometimes included in executive bonus targets.
The foundation is part-funded by the UK and Dutch governments.
