At the start of 2026, a business development (BD) deal between CSPC Pharmaceutical Group and AstraZeneca set a new record for the highest amount of foreign licensing for Chinese biopharmaceutical companies, with a potential value of over US$18.5 billion.

This record-breaking business development deal has once again propelled the research and development of weight-loss drugs to a new level . According to the agreement, AstraZeneca has acquired the global exclusive rights to CSPC Pharmaceutical Group's once-monthly injectable weight management product portfolio outside of Greater China, including one clinical-ready project SYH2082, three preclinical projects, and four new collaborative projects based on CSPC Pharmaceutical Group's platform.

It is worth mentioning that SYH2082 is a GLP1R/GIPR agonist, which means that GLP-1 will continue to be popular in the weight loss field.

01
Blood sugar reduction has been unknown for many years
One day of weight loss produced a medicine king

With the release of 2025 financial reports from multinational pharmaceutical companies such as Merck, Novo Nordisk, and Eli Lilly, the battle for the title of "King of Drugs" between GLP-1 and PD-1 has come to an end. Eli Lilly's telposide (combined with the blood sugar-lowering version of Mounjaro and the weight-loss version of Zepbound) achieved sales of $36.5 billion, crushing Merck's Keytruda ($31.7 billion) and narrowly defeating Novo Nordisk's semaglutide ($36.1 billion).

The idea that weight loss is the key to GLP-1's success is debatable. Exenatide, the world's first GLP-1 agonist approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, peaked in global sales in 2011 at $941 million, only one-tenth of the sales of Humira ($9.48 billion), showing no signs of having the potential to become a drug kingpin.

In December 2014, liraglutide, the world's second GLP-1 drug approved by the European EMA in 2009 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, was also approved by the US FDA for the treatment of obesity. Although this opened up a second avenue for GLP-1, liraglutide's sales peak remained in 2019 until semaglutide's weight loss indication was approved in 2021. The total sales of liraglutide products were approximately US$4.471 billion.

Although the approval of liraglutide for weight loss has given wings to the market growth of GLP-1, without the follow-up of semaglutide, GLP-1 would still not be able to launch an effective offensive against the king of drugs, Keytruda.

The combined effect of these two drugs revitalized the market, ultimately leading to market dominance. The advent of semaglutide extended the frequency of GLP-1 drug use from once daily to once weekly, resulting in a longer duration of action. Clinical data shows that liraglutide (3.0 mg once daily) resulted in an average weight loss of 8.0%, while semaglutide (2.4 mg once weekly) resulted in an average weight loss of 16.9%, demonstrating greater efficiency in weight loss.

It is worth mentioning that the entry of telpotetide has further upgraded the weight loss efficacy. In May 2025, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published the complete data of the Phase 3b head-to-head clinical trial SURMOUNT-5 of telpotetide and smegglutide. 751 non-diabetic patients who were obese or overweight with at least one weight-related complication were randomized 1:1 to receive telpotetide (10 mg or 15 mg) or smegglutide (1.7 mg or 2.4 mg) for 72 weeks. The telpotetide group had an average weight loss of 20.2% and an average waist circumference reduction of 18.4 cm, while the smegglutide group had an average weight loss of 13.7% and an average waist circumference reduction of 13.0 cm.

According to the "National Technical Guidelines for Comprehensive Management of Obesity at the Grassroots Level (2025)," there are currently five drugs in China with indications for obesity. Except for orlistat, which is a non-GLP-1 drug, the rest are GLP-1 related drugs.

The weight loss market has been fully awakened by the continuous iterative upgrades of GLP-1 products, which offer both long-lasting and high-efficiency benefits.

02
A Red Ocean Worth Hundreds of Billions of Dollars
How to roll the exclusive GLP-1?

According to the World Obesity Atlas 2025 released by the World Obesity Federation, the proportion of overweight and obese adults worldwide is expected to rise from 36% in 2000 to 50% by 2030, covering nearly 3 billion people. Analysts from multiple institutions, including Goldman Sachs, HSBC, and TD Cowen, predict that global sales of obesity drugs will exceed US$100 billion by 2030.

The loneliness of being invincible will continue. According to data from PharmNet, as of now, there are six innovative drugs globally in the marketing application stage for weight loss/obesity/overweight indications, of which only one is a non-GLP-1 biosimilar: tesofensine.

It is worth mentioning that as early as December 2019, Saniona's partner Medix submitted a new drug application to CoFEPRIS in Mexico for tesofensine to treat obesity. According to a 6-month phase 2 TIPO-1 trial for obese patients, at the recommended dose of 0.50 mg per day, it can reduce body weight by 10% within 24 weeks, which is roughly the same as the best GLP-1 analog at the time. However, in today's market, it is obviously far behind semaglutide and telboride.

In the face of fierce competition, various strategies are emerging to find a way forward. The success of telpotetide is attributed to its dual GLP-1/GIP target advantage, which has sparked enthusiasm for GLP-1 multi-target drug development. Innovent Biologics' mastolide received approval from the National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) in June 2025, becoming the world's first approved GCG/GLP-1 dual-target drug. Eli Lilly is also accelerating its efforts to develop the GIP/GLP-1/GCGR triple-target Retatrutide. In January 2026, Eli Lilly announced plans to invest over $3.5 billion to build a new injectable drug and device manufacturing facility in Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania, primarily producing Retatrutide.

In addition to multi-target drugs, more convenient oral formulations are also entering the market. In December 2025, Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide was approved by the US FDA for weight management, becoming the world's first non-injectable GLP-1 weight loss drug. Eli Lilly's oral small molecule GLP-1 RA drug orforglipron is also worth looking forward to.

In September 2025, Eli Lilly announced the topline results of the Phase 3 clinical trial ACHIEVE-3. Although not for weight loss, orforglipron was significantly more effective than oral semagraft in lowering blood sugar. At the primary endpoint, the highest dose of orforglipron reduced glycated hemoglobin (A1C) by 2.2%, while the highest dose of oral semagraft reduced A1C by 1.4%. At the key secondary endpoint, participants receiving the highest dose of orforglipron lost an average of 9.2% of their weight, while the highest dose of oral semagraft reduced their weight by an average of 5.3%.

Domestic products also possess unique strengths, attracting foreign companies to "snap up" their offerings. Returning to the beginning of this article, the key to why CSPC Pharmaceutical Group's weight management product portfolio could attract AstraZeneca's massive investment lies in its longer-lasting, once-monthly injections. Furthermore, domestic pharmaceutical companies' drug candidates in the GLP-1 testing track are also quite attractive, with companies like Hengrui Medicine, Hansoh Pharmaceutical, and Chengyi Biotechnology all successfully expanding overseas.

In addition, domestic GLP-1 drugs have reached new heights. Aokida Pharmaceuticals' AUC059 is the world's first nasal GLP-1 receptor agonist to enter the clinical stage. Aokida Pharmaceuticals plans to launch a Phase 3 study in November 2026 to prove its long-term safety and tolerability.

03
Patch update in progress
Domestic varieties are showing strong momentum

GLP-1 drugs have the problem of causing muscle loss along with weight loss. A retrospective study showed that nearly 40% of the weight loss in semaglutide participants was muscle, which increases the risk of cardiovascular disease and osteoporosis. Achieving both leanness and health is a "patcher" that needs to be patched in GLP-1 therapy.

The patch is being updated, and domestic products have a larger market share. In June 2025, Eli Lilly presented Phase 2b clinical data on the ACTRII-targeted drug Bimagrumab for weight loss at the ADA conference. After 72 weeks of treatment, the Bimagrumab plus semaglutide group achieved a weight loss of 22.1%, with 92.9% coming from fat and only 2.9% from muscle loss.

It is worth mentioning that, along with Eli Lilly, only two pharmaceutical companies have entered the clinical stage with their ACTRII targets for weight loss-related indications: Jinmante Bio (wholly owned by CSPC Pharmaceutical Group) and Laikai Pharmaceutical. According to data from PharmNet, Jinmante Bio's JMT-206 is in Phase 1 clinical trials for both obesity and overweight indications, while Laikai Pharmaceutical has two ACTRII products, LAE-102 and LAE-103, which are also in Phase 1 clinical trials for obesity and overweight indications.

Taking a different approach, domestically produced is the only option. Ganlai Pharmaceuticals (a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ascletis Pharma)'s ASC47 is a fat-targeting selective small molecule agonist of thyroid hormone receptor β (THRβ). According to PharmNet data, among the approved/investigating drugs targeting THRβ globally, one has an indication for overweight and seven have an indication for obesity, but only ASC47 has advanced to clinical trials (Phase 1 for obesity). This drug is expected to become a first-in-class candidate for weight loss without muscle loss.

According to data from a head-to-head study of low-dose ASC47 combined with semaglutide in DIO mice, the combination therapy with low-dose ASC47 was superior to semaglutide monotherapy. The combination therapy resulted in a 36.2% reduction in body weight, while semaglutide monotherapy resulted in a 23.1% reduction in body weight. The combination therapy resulted in a 56.7% greater weight loss than monotherapy. At the end of treatment, the percentage of total muscle mass to total body weight in obese mice treated with low-dose ASC47 combined with semaglutide (68.8%) was similar to that in healthy non-obese mice (66.0%).

04
Conclusion

The market for weight loss drugs has been completely opened by GLP-1, and it's unlikely that any other product will be able to compete with it for years to come. In this "feast" of a market almost entirely dominated by hundreds of billions of dollars, only fierce competition remains. Convenience, superior effectiveness, long-lasting effects, or even healthier weight loss are all "magic weapons" in this competitive environment.

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