Lilly's (LLY.US) weight-loss drug in China will directly compete with Novo Nordisk (NVO.US)
On July 19, Lilly (LLLY.US) announced that its long-term weight management drug, Semaglutide (Semi), was approved by the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) of China. Semaglutide is the first and currently the only available glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1) agonist approved in China, and is also the first innovation drug in the field of obesity treatment approved by Lilly in China.
Semaglutide can bind and activate both GIP and GLP-1 receptors, reducing food intake, lowering body weight and reducing fat mass by regulating appetite.
The approval of several blockbuster weight-loss drugs provides more options for Chinese patients who currently mainly use Novo Nordisk's Ozempic, which is only approved for diabetes treatment.
National drug companies are competing to produce generic versions of Wegovy, a diabetes and weight-loss drug that is mainly active in Semaglutide. Other companies are also vying to have their domestic weight-loss drugs approved through late-stage clinical trials, hoping to be the first to get approval from the Ministry of Health next year.
The obesity rate in China is rising, and this is a crucial market for companies like Lilly. More than half of Chinese adults are in an unhealthy weight range, with 34.3% overweight and 16.4% obese, according to the latest national survey by the National Health Commission from 2015 to 2019.