(Bloomberg) -- Eli Lilly & Co.’s Mounjaro gained Chinese regulatory approval for weight less than a month after a similar therapy from Novo Nordisk A/S, fueling competition in a nation that’s among the world’s most severely hit by obesity.
China’s National Medical Products Administration approved Lilly’s shot for long-term weight management on Friday, the company said in a statement on its official WeChat account, less than two months after the regulator initially cleared the drug for diabetes. The shares gained 0.7 per cent in trading before U.S. markets opened.
The barrage of approvals for blockbuster weight-loss medicines adds more options for Chinese patients who are mainly using Novo’s Ozempic, which is only approved for diabetes treatment. Domestic drugmakers are rushing to make generic versions of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Novo’s Wegovy for weight loss. Other companies are racing to get homegrown obesity drugs through late-stage clinical trials, with hopes for regulatory approval as soon as next year.
Obesity rates are rising in China, making it a crucial market for companies like Novo and Lilly. More than half the adult population was in unhealthy weight territory in the latest national survey conducted during 2015-2019 by China’s National Health Commission, with 34.3 per cent of overweight and 16.4 per cent reported as obese.
©2024 Bloomberg L.P.
