Novo Nordisk said on Thursday that China’s medicines regulator has accepted its application to sell an oral formulation of Wegovy, the Danish drugmaker confirmed. The submission marks a strategic push into the country where Novo sees competition from multiple global and local players for a growing population of people with overweight and obesity.
The company’s filing puts it in direct competition with Eli Lilly, which has been developing its own oral GLP-1 compound, as well as other firms such as Pfizer and Chinese Biotech Innovent Biologics. These companies are contesting market share in China with versions of once-weekly GLP-1 injections for weight loss.
China’s National Health Commission has projected that the proportion of people who are overweight or obese could exceed 65% by 2030. That projection underpins the commercial interest in obesity treatments in the country and helps explain why multiple drugmakers are advancing both injectable and oral GLP-1 therapies.
Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have expressed the view that oral weight-loss medications may appeal to patients who are hesitant to use injections. The companies see pills as a potentially different route to patient uptake, complementing or competing with established injectable regimens.
Regulatory progress for the oral agents has varied by market. Novo Nordisk obtained early approvals in the United States and Britain for its Wegovy pill and launched the product in the U.S. this year. Eli Lilly won U.S. approval in April for its oral GLP-1 agent orforglipron, which belongs to the same class of drugs that mimic a gut hormone to reduce appetite and help control blood sugar in people with diabetes.
On the China timeline for oral options, Eli Lilly said in March that it submitted a marketing application for a once-daily formulation of orforglipron to the Chinese regulator at the end of 2025. Novo’s announcement confirms it is pursuing a parallel regulatory pathway for its oral candidate in the same market.
The acceptance of Novo Nordisk’s application signals the next phase of regulatory review in China, but it does not equate to final approval. The competitive landscape will include international and domestic developers of GLP-1 therapies, and patient preference for oral versus injectable formats is a central point of differentiation cited by the companies.
Key context
- China’s regulator accepted Novo Nordisk’s application to market an oral Wegovy product.
- Major competitors in China include Eli Lilly, Pfizer and Innovent Biologics, competing with once-weekly GLP-1 injections as well as oral formulations.
- National Health Commission estimates that overweight or obesity prevalence could exceed 65% by 2030, underscoring market potential.