Terry Prone: Forget 'skinny jabs', these drugs are changing everything

No previous medicine has ever challenged international culture, jolted the food industry into radical change, rattled the future prospects of the alcohol industry, threatened Big Tobacco or promised the possibility of cheaper air travel, writes Terry Prone

A largely unanticipated outcome of the new drugs is a reduction in alcohol consumption with almost a quarter of the users claiming to have either reduced their alcohol consumption or quit booze altogether.

You might not think a sleep apnoea business in Australia would have much of a connection with GLP-1 medication. Or be threatened by it. But last month, shares in one such company dropped by more than 13% at one point as investors got worried about the medication reducing the incidence of sleep apnoea.

Obesity is a frequent underlying cause of sleep apnoea, so if you move out of obesity, you’re less likely to suffer sleep apnoea, which in turn implies lower future sales for that technology.