China clears Lilly’s weight-loss drug, only for diabetes now
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China gave the greenlight to Eli Lilly & Co.’s blockbuster drug tirzepatide for use in treating diabetes, a move that will intensify the drugmaker’s rivalry with Novo Nordisk A/S over weight-loss drugs in the world’s second-largest market.
Tirzepatide won approval from Chinese regulators for treating adults with type 2 diabetes, the US company announced in a statement Tuesday. Its use for chronic weight management is still under review, it said.
The drug, available in the form of a weekly jab, was first approved in the US for diabetes under the brand name Mounjaro and later for weight loss under another name Zepbound. While China has only approved it for treating diabetes, the drug could end up being used off-label for weight loss as well, just like Novo’s Ozempic following its 2021 clearance in China for diabetes.
Eli Lilly and rival Novo Nordisk have been stepping up production of the drugs in response to skyrocketing demand, with the weight-loss market estimated to reach at least $100 billion by 2030 according to Goldman Sachs. China’s market is expected to grow to 14.9 billion yuan ($2 billion) by the end of the decade, local publication The Paper has reported, citing data from Ping An Securities Co.
On the weight-loss front in China, Lilly is also co-developing a similar obesity drug called mazdutide with its Chinese partner Innovent Biologics Inc while several companies are working on biosimilar versions of Ozempic in a race to get them on market when Novo’s patent expires.