China Pharma Market Demand for Diabetes and Weight Loss Drugs Expands

On 26 January China’s National Medical Products Administration announced that it had approved Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus treatment for Type-2 diabetes, making it the first orally administrated GLP-1 receptor agonist drug available in the burgeoning Chinese market. Semaglutide is the active ingredient of Rybelsus and its two injectable companion drugs:  Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss.

Chinese industry specialists note that demand for diabetes treatment drugs and their weight management counterparts is rapidly increasing around the world. Owing to the success of its own GLP-1 drugs, Mounjaro and Zepbound, Eli Lilly stock jumped 59% in 2023, making it the world’s most valuable healthcare company.  

China’s demand for weight management drugs has increased significantly. According to a Chinese report published in August 2023, 33.9% of China’s 1.4 billion population is overweight — 40.2% among men and 27.4% among women. Chinese media reported that China’s weight management market grew from RMB 260 million ($37.4 million) in 2016 to RMB 1.9 billion ($291.2 million) in 2020 for a compound annual growth rate of 64.6%. Ping An Securities forecasts that by 2030 China’s market for weight management drugs will be RMB 14.9 billion ($2.1 billion). 

Competition for this market is intensifying. In addition to foreign pharmaceutical companies, several Chinese companies, such as Huadong Medicine, Sciwind, and Vincentage, are working on GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs. Foreign firms also are working in China to introduce new products: Eli Lilly is partnered with Innovent, and AstraZeneca with Eccogene.