The wave of domestic weight-loss drugs has begun, how will multinational giants respond?

With the commercialization of the domestic GLP-1 weight loss drug Masitide, the landscape of the domestic weight loss drug market has undergone new changes. The two global giants in weight loss drugs, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, will face a more intense competitive environment in the Chinese market, raising concerns about whether the prices of weight loss drugs will loosen in the future. On July 3rd, Innovent Biologics' GLP-1 weight loss innovative drug Masitide officially launched its "first prescription" in China. Professor Ji Linong, chief physician of the Endocrinology Department at Peking University People's Hospital, prescribed the first prescription in the country for an overweight patient with fatty liver, marking the official entry of Masitide into domestic public hospitals. This came just a week after the drug was approved. Starting next week, the drug will gradually enter major public hospitals across the country. In comparison, Novo Nordisk's semaglutide weight loss indication took nearly 5 months from approval to the issuance of the "first prescription" in public hospitals; Eli Lilly's tirzepatide weight loss indication also took nearly half a year from approval to market launch. "Domestic manufacturers do not have issues with production capacity supply," an industry insider told Yicai. According to reports, as of now, both semaglutide and tirzepatide have not yet achieved localized production in China