The weight-loss drug market is booming, with biotechnology companies competing to capture market share in a sector now dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
Analysts predict the segment will generate about $150 billion in annual sales over the next decade.
On Wednesday, Eli Lilly became the second company to win approval for a weight loss pill, as the multibillion-dollar market turns to more convenient oral therapies.
Novo Nordisk gained a major first-mover advantage after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a tablet version of its best-selling Wegovy obesity shot in December.
Here’s a list of weight-loss drugs in development by Novo, Lilly and other companies looking for the next blockbuster treatment:
NOVO NORDISK
In December, the FDA approved the oral version of Novo Nordisk’s injectable weight-loss drug Wegovy.
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The company is also developing several experimental weight-loss drugs, including a next-generation injection called amycretin and CagriSema, considered a potent successor to Wegovy.
Amycretin, which targets the hormones GLP-1 and amylin, demonstrated statistically significant weight loss of up to 14.5% at 36 weeks in patients with type 2 diabetes in a mid-phase study.
CagriSema presented below-expected results in two late-stage clinical studies. In one of them, the medicine helped overweight patients reduce weight by 22.7%, below Novo’s expectation of 25%.
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In December, Novo filed a request for marketing authorization for CagriSema in the United States, aiming for possible approval.
The company has also entered into licensing deals for drugs in early-stage trials, including a deal valued at up to $2 billion with China-based United Laboratories for its “triple-G” weight-loss drug candidate, which targets three hormones.
PFIZER
Through an acquisition, the company gained access to Metsera’s obesity drugs, currently in early to mid-stage development, including MET-097i, a GLP-1 therapy designed for monthly injection, compared to Lilly and Novo’s weekly treatments.
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Metsera is also developing MET-233i, a treatment that mimics the pancreatic hormone amylin.
In September, MET-097i demonstrated an average weight loss of 14.1% after 28 weeks in two mid-phase studies. Metsera plans to begin late-stage studies later this year and develop the drug for use in combination therapies and oral versions.
Pfizer had discontinued development of two oral GLP-1 drug candidates — lotiglipron, in 2023, and danuglipron, in 2025 — due to liver safety concerns.
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In December, Pfizer entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with YaoPharma, a subsidiary of Chinese pharmaceutical company Shanghai Fosun, to develop and commercialize an experimental weight management treatment.
ELI LILLY
Lilly’s orforglipron, marketed under the brand Foundayo, became the second oral weight-loss pill to win approval in the US.
Lilly is advancing its experimental weekly amylin-based obesity drug, eloralintide, into late-stage testing in December, after the drug helped patients lose up to 20.1% of their weight in a mid-stage study.
In August, the drugmaker said orforglipron helped overweight adults with type 2 diabetes lose 10.5% of their body weight at the highest dose of 36 mg over 72 weeks in a late-stage study.
In December, a late-stage clinical study demonstrated that retatrutide, a new generation drug for treating obesity, helped patients lose an average of 28.7% of their weight, surpassing the blockbuster drug Zepbound and reinforcing the company’s leadership in this fast-growing market.
Lilly entered into a deal with Chinese biotechnology company Laekna last year to develop an obesity drug that aims to help patients lose weight while preserving muscle mass.
In August, the company signed an agreement worth up to $1.3 billion with Superluminal Medicines to discover and develop small-molecule medicines using artificial intelligence to treat obesity and other cardiometabolic diseases.
ROCHE
In September, Roche said it would advance its experimental obesity drug, CT-388, acquired through its $2.7 billion purchase of Carmot Therapeutics in 2023, into final-phase clinical trials. Carmot’s weekly injection belongs to the same class as Lilly’s Zepbound.
In March last year, Roche acquired the rights to obesity treatment petrelintide from Zealand Pharma in a deal that could be worth up to $5.3 billion.
AMGEN
Last year, Amgen’s closely watched investigational obesity drug MariTide helped overweight patients lose up to 20% of their body weight in a year-long mid-phase study.
The company said it expects to have data before the end of this year from two important mid-phase studies of MariTide.
Analysts said MariTide’s weight loss benefit is in line with that of Wegovy and Zepbound, but with slightly more side effects.
MERCK
In 2024, Merck signed a licensing deal worth up to $2 billion for Chinese biotechnology company Hansoh Pharma’s experimental oral drug aimed at treating obesity, emerging as a last-minute contender in the race for a weight-loss pill that replaces weekly injections.
The drug HS-10535 is a GLP-1 receptor agonist candidate similar to Wegovy and Zepbound.
VIKING THERAPEUTICS
In August, Viking Therapeutics said its oral weight-loss drug, VK2735, helped patients lose 12.2% of their body weight after 13 weeks in a mid-stage study of 280 overweight adults—performing below Wall Street’s most optimistic expectations of 15%.
SCHOLAR ROCK
In June, Scholar Rock said its investigational drug apitegromab, combined with Lilly’s Zepbound, helped patients preserve significantly more lean mass in a mid-stage study.
In the study, patients who received the combination of tirzepatide — the active ingredient in Zepbound — and apitegromab lost 3.4 pounds of lean mass after 24 weeks, compared to those who received tirzepatide alone, who lost 7.6 pounds.
STRUCTURE THERAPEUTICS
In December, Structure Therapeutics said its investigational oral tablet for obesity demonstrated an 11.3% reduction in body weight at a 120 mg dose after 36 weeks in a mid-phase study.
Another mid-phase study, which explored higher doses of aleniglipron, demonstrated weight loss of up to 15.3% in 36 weeks.
The company said the results support progress to the final phase of development, which is expected to begin in mid-2026, following a meeting with the FDA in the first half of next year.
