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We used to argue whether design was about aesthetics or about functionality. But in 2025, those conversations seemed downright quaint. Simpler debates for a simpler time. Now were wondering if craft can survive the age of AI, and if well ever escape the politicization of every brand and object again. For the December episode of our podcast By Design, I discussed these trends and more with Fast Company senior editor Liz Stinson. We were joined by some of our brightest friends in the industry who shared their biggest own moments in design for the year, including Paola Antonelli (senior curator at MoMA), Cliff Kuang (FC Designs first editor and senior staff designer at Google), Forest Young (Global Design & AI Resident at Wolff Olins), and Elizabeth Goodspeed (editor-at-large at Its Nice That). Just try to guess who called out vibe coding, and who highlighted Sabrina Carpenters latest tour. Tune in through Apple or Spotify, and please give us a few stars if you like it. See you in 2026!
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss pill on Monday, giving the Danish drugmaker a leg up in the race to market a potent oral medication for shedding pounds as it looks to regain lost ground from rival Eli Lilly. The pill is 25 milligrams of semaglutide, the same active ingredient in injectable Wegovy and Ozempic, and will be sold under the brand name Wegovy. Novo already sells an oral semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, Rybelsus. The approval could help spur a turnaround for Novo after a rocky year of sliding shares, profit warnings and slowing sales of its injectable Wegovy amid intense competition from Lilly and pressure from compounded versions. U.S.-listed shares of Novo jumped 8% and Lilly fell 1% in extended trading after the approval announcement. A 64-week, late-stage study showed participants who took 25 mg of oral semaglutide once daily lost an average of 16.6% of their body weight, compared with 2.7% for those on a placebo. The pill was approved for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight and at least one related health condition, broadening the potential patient pool at a time when insurers, employers and governments are wrestling with spiraling healthcare costs related to obesity. It could help open the door to tens of millions of untapped patients in a global market, forecast to be worth some $150 billion a year by next decade. “You’re going to see a huge uptake in the patient base as new indications open up and as oral versions hit the market,” said Anand Iyer, chief AI officer at telehealth firm Welldoc. Novo is banking on the pill’s first-to-market advantage to revitalize sales in the U.S., where it has lost ground to Lilly. Lilly’s next-generation weight-loss pill orforglipron could be approved as soon as late March. David Moore, Novo’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, said a daily pill could boost interest and uptake of the drug. Novo is manufacturing the pill in the United States in North Carolina and has been building up supplies of the pill “for some time” to ensure that it has “ample supply”, he said. Some 40% of American adults are obese, U.S. government data shows, and around 12% say they currently take GLP-1 drugs, according to a poll published last month by health policy research organization KFF. Novo had a first-to-market advantage with injectables, but initially struggled to meet explosive demand. Eventually, Lilly got ahead with its rival Zepbound, which now leads for weekly U.S. prescriptions. Novo and analysts say a weight-loss pill would address injection hesitancy and expand access. Analysts say pills could capture around a one-fifth share of the market by 2030, particularly among patients who prefer simpler and less invasive treatment options. “The pills will not displace or replace the injections,” said Christopher Chrisman, a managing director and partner at consultancy BCG, adding some patients may prefer to continue with weekly injections. “But pills offer clear advantages to some people. There’s travel convenience and no need for a fridge,” he added. PRICING AGREEMENTS Novo said the 1.5-milligram starting dose of the Wegovy pill will be available in early January. Novo and Lilly had agreed to offer starter doses of their weightloss pills at $149 per month for the U.S. government Medicare and Medicaid health insurance programs and to cash-paying customers via the White House’s direct-to-consumer TrumpRx site. Novo recently cut the cash price for Wegovy to $349 a month, from $499. U.S. list prices are about $1,000 per month or more. Novo CEO Mike Doustdar said in November that people using weight-loss drugs show more “consumer-like” behavior than its traditional diabetes patients, acknowledging that the company needs to adapt to this and bring in new expertise. Whether another semaglutide product can solve Novo’s current ills remains to be seen. Novo’s oral semaglutide needs to be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before eating, drinking or using any other oral medication. Lilly’s pill does not have those restrictions. (Reporting by Maggie Fick, Patrick Wingrove, Mariam Sunny, Christy Santhosh and Mrinalika Roy; Editing by Adam Jourdan, Bill Berkrot, Rosalba O’Brien and Jamie Freed) Maggie Fick and Mariam Sunny, Reuters
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Markets are flat early Tuesday in holiday-thinned trading before head of the release of new data on how the U.S. economy fared in the third quarter.Futures for the S&P 500, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and Nasdaq are all essentially unchanged before the opening bell.Shares of the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk jumped more than 7% overnight after U.S. regulators approved a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity. Novo’s Wegovy is a GLP-1 drug that works like widely used injectables to mimic a natural hormone that controls appetite and feelings of fullness.Again touching new records, the price of gold rose 1.2% early Tuesday to $4,523.30 an ounce, adding to its consistent gains throughout the year. Silver rose 1.7%, to $69.71 an ounce.Oil prices edged higher early Tuesday after jumping more than 2% on Monday when the U.S. Coast Guard said it was pursuing another sanctioned oil tanker in the Caribbean.U.S. benchmark crude added 4 cents to $58.05 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, gained 7 cents to $62.14 per barrel.Even after five straight days of gains, oil prices are down about 19% since the beginning of 2025 with demand lagging. U.S. factory conditions are weakening with activity readings hitting five-month lows, according to S&P Global.Markets in the U.S. will close early on Wednesday and remain closed on Thursday for the Christmas holiday. Yet several economic reports during the shortened week could shed more light on the condition and direction of the U.S. economy.The government on Tuesday releases the first of three estimates on gross domestic product, a reflection of how the broader U.S. economy fared in the third quarter. Also, the Conference Board will offer results from its December consumer confidence survey.Wednesday will bring a weekly update from the Labor Department on applications for jobless benefits, a proxy for U.S. layoffs.In Europe at midday Germany’s DAX edged 0.1% higher, while the CAC 40 in Paris slipped 0.2%. Britain’s FTSE 100 was unchanged.In Asian, Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 was flat at 50,412,87 and the dollar fell against the Japanese yen after officials in Tokyo warned they would intervene if the yen weakened further.The dollar traded at 155.95 yen, down from 157.04 yen late Monday. Instead of gaining after the Bank of Japan raised its key policy rate on Friday, the yen had weakened, drawing the usual objections from the Finance Ministry to larger than usual currency fluctuations.“The hint of currency intervention proved to be such a serious threat that the yen, which had been significantly oversold after the Bank of Japan meeting, rose from the ashes,” Alex Kruptsikevich of FXPro said in a commentary.The euro climbed to $1.1797 from $1.1762.Hong Kong’s Hang Seng gave up early gains to fall 0.1% to 25,774.14. The Shanghai Composite index edged 0.1% higher, to 3,919.98.South Korea’s Kospi added 0.3% to 4,117.32. Shipbuilder Hanwha Ocean’s shares jumped 12.5% after President Donald Trump said it would help build a new class of U.S. battleship at the Hanwha Philly shipyard.The S&P/ASX 200 in Australia jumped 1.1% to 8,795.70.In Taiwan, the Taiex advanced 0.6%, while India’s Sensex was nearly unchanged. Elaine Kurtenbach and Matt Ott, AP Business Writers
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