Free medical tuition alone isn't enough to close gaps in primary care

The state’s celebrated cluster of biotechs has hatched breakthrough medicines for everything from COVID and cystic fibrosis to multiple rare diseases. It has pioneered cutting-edge research in exotic fields like messenger RNA, gene editing, and gene therapies.

But when it comes to what is arguably the hottest space in drug development today — controlling weight and diabetes for millions of people worldwide — the brainy innovators from Kendall Square have missed out on the booming market, at least so far.

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Instead, the field, which has scientific roots in Massachusetts, is dominated by a pair of global pharma giants: Denmark’s Novo Nordisk, maker of the blockbuster drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, and Indianapolis-based Eli Lilly, which produces the fast-selling Mounjaro.

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