Obesity Drugs Help With Weight Loss But Are Adding Fat Elsewhere

A surge in demand for weight-loss and diabetes medications, paired with fears of incoming tariffs, has propelled Ireland to the center of a pharmaceutical trade boom with the U.S., dramatically widening the bilateral trade imbalance.

This year alone, $36 billion worth of hormone ingredients—essential for popular drugs like GLP-1 treatments and insulin analogs—have been flown from Ireland to the U.S., more than doubling last year’s total.

The Wall Street Journal stated that these pharmaceutical ingredients weighed 23,400 pounds, were highly concentrated, and shipped in temperature-controlled containers.

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Nearly all were bound for Indiana, where Eli Lilly And Co (NYSE:LLY), the maker of blockbuster drugs Zepbound and Mounjaro, is based.

The company began manufacturing these products in its Kinsale, Ireland facility ...