Among this year’s Spring Festival film releases, the most talked-about is undoubtedly Jia Ling’s “YOLO.”
This film is a remake of the Japanese movie “100 Yen Love,” but the biggest selling point is Jia Ling’s weight loss of 100 kilograms for this movie (first gaining 40 kilograms, then losing 100 kilograms).
Currently, Jia Ling weighs only 109 kilograms.
After watching the movie, many people’s first New Year’s wish is to “become as slim as Jia Ling.”
So, the question arises, how did Jia Ling achieve this weight loss?
Blogger @Chu Mingyu, who has a background in physics from the United States, wrote:
“At first, she insisted that it was through willpower and exercise, but everyone in the weight-loss community knows the big deal over the past two years. The emergence of the weight-loss wonder drug Ozempic (Semaglutide) has caused many weight-loss companies to go out of business. When a person repeatedly fails to lose weight through willpower alone but suddenly succeeds, this is somewhat suspicious.”
Did Jia Ling’s weight loss have the blessing of cutting-edge technology?
Regarding Jia Ling’s weight loss, there are two industries that are very excited, as she is a natural customer magnet.
One is the gym, and the other is weight-loss pills.
Chu Mingyu’s remarks about Jia Ling’s weight loss are taken out of context.
“After holding out for a few days, this person finally couldn’t hold back and admitted to using weight-loss drugs…”
In fact, Jia Ling did not say that her weight loss this time was successful because of weight-loss drugs. Chu Mingyu’s words were taken from Jia Ling’s previous statements.
She previously said that she had tried various methods to lose weight, including diet control and exercise, but the effects were not significant. Later, she started to try weight-loss pills in hopes of losing weight quickly.
However, the side effects of the medication made her extremely uncomfortable, and she even fell ill at one point.
In this context, Jia Ling began to reconsider her approach to weight loss.
She reduced the intake of high-calorie, high-fat, and high-sugar foods and increased the intake of low-calorie, high-fiber foods such as vegetables and fruits.
At the same time, she persisted in moderate daily exercise such as walking, jogging, and yoga.
These methods don’t sound much different from her previous ones, so the question arises: was there really no medication involved?
The reason Chu Mingyu attributed the cause to weight-loss drugs may be because just last year, the weight-loss drug was the most dazzling investment track in the capital market.
The reason it was so popular was the emergence of the “weight-loss wonder drug” Ozempic.
Ozempic belongs to the GLP-1 class of drugs, with the most representative being the weight-loss injection Wegovy from the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
The principle of this drug is to stimulate the secretion of insulin in the human body and inhibit the secretion of glucagon, thereby promoting the metabolism of glucose.
At the same time, it also has the “side effect” of reducing appetite.
When people take this drug, they naturally don’t feel like eating. In experiments, Ozempic has been shown to reduce food intake by 35%.
In 2022, Musk announced that he had lost 18 kilograms in a month, not through exercise, but through dieting and injections of Ozempic.
Subsequently, many American models and actors also publicly admitted to using this drug.
The advertising effect of these celebrities has propelled Ozempic to success.
Clinical studies have shown that injecting a dose of 2.4mg subcutaneously weekly can result in an average weight loss of about 6%.
Based on this data, losing 50 kilograms in a year is quite easy.
With its extremely high effectiveness and “magical side effects,” Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss injection generated sales of $45 billion last year.
Selling $45 billion worth of products is not because the market demands $45 billion worth, but because Novo Nordisk can only produce that much in a year.
The prosperity of the weight-loss drug market can be seen from this.
Currently, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have both invested billions of dollars in building new factories.
Some agencies predict that in the next two years, global demand for GLP-1 drugs may continue to outstrip supply.
Apart from Jia Ling, the actress Ma Sichun has also revealed that she “lost 50 kilograms in half a year.” Many people suspect that she may have also used GLP-1 drugs.
As the saying goes, “Spring comes early to the Jiangnan region,” in a money-making track, one cannot do without the sensitive noses of Chinese companies.
After the launch of Ozempic, in September 2023, the weight-loss drug sparked an investment frenzy in the Chinese capital market.
Jiarong Technology and Changshan Pharmaceutical, the strongest players in the market, saw their stock prices soar, more than doubling.
At the end of December 2023, the Suzhou Industrial Park Administrative Committee website published a report on the expansion of Bory Pharmaceutical’s production capacity.
The report showed that Bory Pharmaceuticals plans to add a capacity of 350 million doses per year of BGM0504 injection, with a total of three production lines, for “blood sugar reduction and weight loss.”
Bory Pharmaceuticals stated on the investor interaction platform that BGM0504 injection is a GLP-1 and GIP receptor dual agonist independently developed by the company, which can produce biological effects such as controlling blood sugar, losing weight, and treating non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NASH), showing the potential for the treatment of various metabolic diseases.
Don’t blame the speed of capital encroachment, it’s really because the weight-loss drug market is too tempting.
In 2023, Novo Nordisk’s market capitalization reached as high as $400 billion at one point, surpassing the luxury goods group LVMH, and securing the European market value crown.
Denmark’s GDP was also only $400 billion that year, and just one weight-loss drug made a company as wealthy as a country.
The “money-making prospects” can be imagined.
There have been reports from the media that someone selling Ozempic in private revealed the hot sales of this drug:
“Our project hasn’t raised any funds because the money from group purchases that approached me is enough for me to raise to Pre-A.”
After the launch of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, the American pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly quickly developed a counterpart product called Terlipressin. Its stock price surged by 110% last year.
The combined market value of these two companies can buy all the listed pharmaceutical companies in China.
Last year’s top ten scientific breakthroughs selected by the journal Science ranked GLP-1 weight-loss drugs directly at number one, surpassing even ChatGPT.
At the beginning of this year, the first oral GLP-1 receptor agonist in China also obtained approval from the National Medical Products Administration for listing. Its trade name is “Norvasine,” which can be considered as the oral version of Ozempic.
Compared to “weight-loss injections,” oral medications do not involve the discomfort of injections and are more convenient to take.
This has triggered a frenzy in the market.
Moreover, the original Ozempic injection has also been included in the Chinese medical insurance catalog (known domestically as “Norotei”), with a selling price of 478 yuan per 1.5 ml small dose and 890 yuan per 3 ml large dose, much lower than the $1,349 per month treatment cost in the United States.
With monthly expenses of 500-800 yuan, the threshold is not too high for people with high blood pressure, high blood sugar, or girls who love beauty.
Considering the comprehensive cost of time and body laziness, its cost-effectiveness surpasses that of gyms by several blocks.
According to analysts at JPMorgan Chase, by 2030, annual sales of GLP-1 drugs are expected to exceed $100 billion!
After the movie, the golden track of weight-loss drugs will definitely attract more attention.
After all, who doesn’t want to lose weight “comfortably”?
As of now, discussions about “Jia Ling, weight-loss pills” on Xiaohongshu (a popular social media platform) have been ongoing, and the “weight-loss magic needle” is also in short supply in the market.
However, it is still necessary to remind everyone that “medicine is three parts poison.” The side effects of GLP-1 drugs on the gastrointestinal tract should not be underestimated.
Long-term use may lead to anorexia, and the risk of this is still unknown.
The European Medicines Agency has even warned the public that improper use of this drug may cause cancer.
Moreover, medication for weight loss will not give you the muscular physique and vest lines seen on television.
Some doctors also remind that most people cannot achieve what Jia Ling has done, going from 210 kilograms to around 110 kilograms, and it is not recommended to imitate it.
“For example, if an obese patient loses 20%, they may experience low blood sugar reactions even though their blood sugar is not low. This is also why the target is set at 20%, and ordinary people should not strive to return to their original weight…”
The focus of our weight loss is not to make ourselves slim but to make ourselves stronger on the path of life.
Whether Jia Ling took weight-loss pills is still unknown, but this time her weight loss did indeed have a tangible buff.
This buff is the box office appeal worth billions.
If you can lose 10 kilograms in a month, you may not have the motivation.
But what if losing it earns you a billion?
The situation may be different then.
Ultimately, the biggest motivation for weight loss is still financial ability.
It is the temptation to make oneself better and richer.