Pharma giants compete to release the first weight-loss pill

Weight-loss drug sales may top $150B by early 2030s, driven by rising demand for Zepbound and Wegovy drugs

Makers of weight-loss drugs are expected to rake in more than $150 billion in revenue by the early 2030s, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s  Wegovy.

The GLP-1 drugs sold by both companies are weekly injections, although several drugmakers are racing to develop an oral medicine or pill that might prove to be as effective as the injectables.

August 19 – Makers of weight-loss drugs are expected to rake in more than $150 billion in revenue by the early 2030s, thanks to the ever-growing popularity of Eli Lilly’s  Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s  Wegovy.

The GLP-1 drugs sold by both companies are weekly injections, although several drugmakers are racing to develop an oral medicine or pill that might prove to be as effective as the injectables.

Pills are easier to manufacture and could also avoid some of the supply issues that were initially seen with Novo and Lilly’s drugs.

Here are some companies developing oral obesity drugs in the hopes of making their mark in a lucrative market:

Eli Lilly

Orforglipron, the company’s once-daily oral non-peptide GLP-1 agonist, helped patients shed 12.4% of body weight over 72 weeks at the highest dose in a late-stage trial. Lilly plans to file for regulatory approval by the end of 2025 and is preparing for global submissions and manufacturing scale-up.

Novo Nordisk

Oral semaglutide, a pill version of the company’s injectable GLP-1 active ingredient, demonstrated about 15% weight loss in a late-stage trial.

The drug is currently under regulatory review, with a U.S. FDA decision expected in late 2025. Novo is also exploring next-generation oral combinations.

Structure therapeutics

Structure Therapeutics is developing GSBR-1290, a non-peptide oral GLP-1 agonist. Last year, the drug helped reduce weight by 6.2% on average at the end of 12 weeks in a mid-stage study. It is expected to report results from another mid-stage trial in the fourth quarter.

Merck

The company, in partnership with Hansoh Pharma, is preparing to test HS-10535, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 agonist, in early-stage trials. The drug is currently being tested in lab studies.