On June 16, foreign media suddenly reported several pieces of news about semaglutide. One was that Novo Nordisk’s oral weight-loss drug Wegovy would soon be launched in China; another was that Novo Nordisk made it clear: regulatory data protection for semaglutide in China will last until the second quarter of 2027, when generics will be able to enter the market.

According to foreign media reports, both pieces of news came from Novo Nordisk’s Global President and CEO, Mike Doustdar.

In the past few days, Novo Nordisk’s global management has happened to be visiting China. On June 15, Health News reported that Lei Haichao, Director of the National Health Commission, met with several Novo Nordisk executives, to discuss Novo Nordisk’s presence in China and its future strategy.

The two major pieces of news above were very likely leaked during this public event, drawing strong market attention. The news about oral semaglutide tablets goes without saying; this is currently the key weapon Novo Nordisk can bring to compete with Lilly. In January 2025, the oral glucose-lowering version of semaglutide, “Rybelsus,” was already launched in China. The “soon to be launched” product referred to by Novo Nordisk’s CEO should be the weight-loss version of semaglutide tablets.

Another piece of news has drawn even greater attention across China’s pharmaceutical industry. This March, semaglutide’s patent in China expired, and everyone has been watching closely for when domestic generic versions of semaglutide can be launched. But Novo Nordisk had never given clear official news or an explanation for the reasons; only some Chinese companies and industry insiders responded and analyzed the situation. This time, Novo Nordisk’s CEO revealed the answer himself.

01
Novo Nordisk’s counteroffensive

In the past few days, Novo Nordisk has been making quite a stir in China. After several Novo Nordisk executives arrived in China on June 15, the company immediately announced several major moves: one was revealing that Novo Nordisk’s once-weekly insulin product, insulin degludec and semaglutide injection, will debut in China; in addition, while emphasizing its 17 billion yuan investment in China, it announced an additional 200 million yuan to expand assembly capacity for injection pens in Tianjin, and it also launched a digital platform for Chinese diabetes patients. Everywhere, it is striving to demonstrate how much it values the Chinese market.

There is a reason behind this. Novo Nordisk has faced quite a few challenges in the Chinese market recently. First, tirzepatide saw a sharp price cut after entering the national reimbursement drug list, dragging semaglutide down with it, and Novo Nordisk had no choice but to cut prices in response. In addition, Huadong Medicine’s patent litigation and the acceptance of a large number of domestic semaglutide biosimilar applications have all threatened semaglutide’s market position. A product that clearly had the chance to challenge for the world’s top-selling drug has now seemingly fallen from grace, putting Novo Nordisk under great pressure.

Judging from the information disclosed by Novo Nordisk’s CEO this time, the company has built two main layers of protection for semaglutide. One is patents, and the other is the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement. According to the agreement, both China and Switzerland shall protect undisclosed pharmaceutical trial data, and for at least six years from the date a drug is approved for marketing, other applicants shall be prohibited from relying on such undisclosed trial data to seek marketing approval for their products.The marketing authorization holder for semaglutide is Novo Nordisk’s subsidiary in Switzerland, and semaglutide naturally received this “preferential treatment,” successfully keeping generics out at the gate.

Based on semaglutide’s approval timeline, its data protection period runs until April 2027, which is the “second quarter of 2027” timeframe mentioned by the CEO. In response, many domestic semaglutide companies have also commented on the matter. According to Caixin, Genor Biopharma, Livzon Group, and United Laboratories said their semaglutide approvals are all in a suspended state due to the China-Switzerland Free Trade Agreement provisions.

It is worth noting that on May 15 this year, the NMPA also officially issued the Measures for the Implementation of Drug Trial Data Protection, which clearly stipulate that for originator drugs already marketed overseas but not yet marketed in China, a six-year data protection period will be granted from the date of the first marketing authorization in China. During the data protection period, if the application uses a BE study comparing against the originator drug, the NMPA will not approve it under any circumstances.

In the past, when the NMPA approved drugs, it did not take the data protection period into account. Although generics could not be sold after approval, it still created significant public pressure for originator drugs. With the new rules in place, products like semaglutide can now avoid such turmoil. The rush by domestic generics to be first to copy may be eased.

02
More moves in reserve

Semaglutide’s data protection, on the surface, is an effective strategy Novo Nordisk is using to deal with generic entry; in essence, it is about who will win a GLP-1 market worth tens of billions.

In 2025, Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide sales in China were about DKK 6.815 billion, up only 5%. This reflects both marketing issues and pressure from competitors. If this trend continues, by 2027 semaglutide’s position could be completely undermined by tirzepatide and domestic GLP-1 drugs.

Novo Nordisk will naturally have to respond proactively. The oral version of semaglutide is a major weapon. After “Novo X” was approved in China as the first oral semaglutide, Novo Nordisk has, since the end of 2025, filed multiple supplemental applications for semaglutide tablets to expand its lead.According to the company CEO, the oral weight-loss version of semaglutide tablets will soon be launched in China, marking an important battle to win back market share. Lilly is also actively developing oral weight-loss drugs, but its progress is clearly behind Novo Nordisk’s. Over the next period, Novo Nordisk will surely continue to recreate the once-unrivaled dominance of its “weight-loss shot” with oral weight-loss drugs.

In addition, Novo Nordisk is also deepening its efforts in multi-target GLP-1 drugs. In addition to the insulin weekly formulation soon to be launched, last March Novo Nordisk, with an upfront payment of $200 million and milestone payments of $1.8 billion, acquired from United Laboratories the global rights outside China (including Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan) to the GLP-1/GIP/GCG triple receptor agonist (UBT251) to the world. Novo Nordisk disclosed that the product has already generated positive clinical data in Phase 2 trials, for both type 2 diabetes and weight-loss indications.

A rich product portfolio is Novo Nordisk’s Great Wall for defending against competitive risks. Next year, manufacturers of semaglutide generics will not only have to find a way to break through Novo Nordisk’s long-standing brand advantage, but also figure out how to deal with the endless stream of GLP-1 innovative products.