Factbox-Weight-loss drug developers line up to tap lucrative market as competition heats up
Reuters
Tue, July 7, 2026 at 9:25 p.m. GMT+5:30
8 min read
July 7 (Reuters) – The weight-loss drug market is booming, with biotech firms racing to capture a slice of a fast-growing sector dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly
Analysts expect the weight-loss sector to generate about $100 billion in annual sales in the next decade
The British health regulator approved a pill version of Novo’s blockbuster obesity drug Wegovy in June, bolstering the Danish drugmaker’s first-to-market lead against Lilly
Lilly won U.S. approval for its weight-loss pill orforglipron in April, more than three months after Novo secured clearance for the Wegovy pill, as the multibillion-dollar market shifts toward oral therapies
The following is a list of weight-loss drugs in ‌development by Novo, Lilly and other companies chasing the next blockbuster treatment:
The European Medicines Agency recommended approval of the Wegovy pill in May, clearing the way for it to become the first entry to European markets
The company is also developing several experimental weight-loss drugs – a next-generation injection called amycretin, and CagriSema, touted as a potent ‌successor to Wegovy
Amycretin, which targets GLP-1 and amylin hormones, showed statistically significant weight loss of up to 14.5% at 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes in a mid-stage study
CagriSema produced weaker-than-expected data in two separate late-stage trials. The drug helped overweight patients cut their weight by 22.7% in one of the trials, below Novo’s expectations of 25%
Novo filed a marketing application for potential U.S. approval of CagriSema in December
Novo also has struck licensing deals for drugs ​in earlier stages of testing, including a deal worth up to $2 billion with China-based United Laboratories for its “triple-G” weight-loss drug candidate that targets three hormones
PFIZER
Through a buyout last year, Pfizer gained access to Metsera’s obesity drugs, such as MET-097i, a GLP-1 therapy designed for a once-monthly injection, compared with weekly treatments from Lilly and Novo
The drug, now known as given PF-3944, led to up to 12.3% weight loss in patients without diabetes, with no plateau observed at week 28, when given as a monthly injection, Pfizer said in February
Pfizer added that it is targeting 2028 for its first approval in the fast-growing weight-loss drug market
Pfizer’s monthly obesity shot showed a side-effect profile similar to rival Novo Nordisk’s weekly Wegovy injection, according to data presented at a medical meeting in June
The compound, called berobenatide, had a mean nausea rate of about 38% and a mean vomiting rate of about 23.3% in the study
