By Andrew Silver
SHANGHAI, Nov 12 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly on Thursday became the first company to have a GLP-1 weight-loss pill approved in China, gaining a leg up on Danish rival Novo Nordisk in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market.
So far, only GLP-1 weight-loss injections have been available in China.
The pill, orforglipron, will compete for market share in China with Lilly’s own once-weekly GLP-1 weight-loss injection as well as with similar injections from Novo, Pfizer and local company Innovent Biologics.
The GLP-1 class of drugs mimic a gut hormone to curb appetite and regulate blood sugar in patients with diabetes.
Novo and Lilly believe weight-loss pills could attract patients reluctant to use injections. Novo has also submitted an application to sell the oral version of Wegovy in China.
Oral therapies account for about a third of US obesity prescriptions following the rollout of Novo’s Wegovy pill in January this year, according to Novo presentations in September.
China’s National Health Commission has said the proportion of overweight or obese people in the country could reach more than 65% by 2030, up from roughly 50% in 2020.
Annual sales of GLP-1 therapies for weight management in China could reach 30 billion yuan ($4.5 billion) in the next five to seven years, up from an estimated 3 billion yuan to 4 billion yuan at present, Yang Huang, J.P. Morgan’s head of China healthcare research, has forecast.
Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment on how it will price orforglipron in China or when it would be available.
What appeared to be a promotion for the drug appeared on a mobile app from Chinese e-commerce company JD.com on Thursday. A spokesperson for JD.com did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
(Reporting by Andrew Silver; additional reporting from Beijing newsroom; Editing by Christian Schmollinger, Edwina Gibbs and Emelia Sithole-Matarise)
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