Competition Intensifies in Obesity Treatment Market with Oral Wegovy

The global obesity treatment market is poised for increased competition with the introduction of oral wegovy,a new addition to the GLP-1 series of obesity treatments traditionally administered via injection. Domestic pharmaceutical and bio companies are adapting thier development strategies, moving beyond simple formulation competition to focus on niche areas like mitigating muscle loss.

novo Nordisk’s obesity treatment, Wegovy (semaglutide), received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug administration (FDA) on December 22nd.

Oral Wegovy is a tablet form of the GLP-1 obesity treatment Wegovy, currently a subcutaneous injection. The oral formulation,taken once daily,eliminates the need for refrigeration and injections,previously considered drawbacks of injectable drugs. Novo Nordisk plans to launch the product in the U.S. market in early January.

Eli Lilly, developer of the competing obesity treatment Mounjaro, is also preparing to commercialize an oral GLP-1 treatment, opogliprone. With a recent new drug application submitted to the FDA, a two-company market dominance is anticipated to begin next year.

The availability of an oral obesity medication is expected to significantly alter the obesity treatment landscape, currently dominated by injections.Patient access is highly likely to improve as psychological barriers to injections decrease. Global pharmaceutical companies are accelerating the development of oral GLP-1 treatments.

Domestic pharmaceutical companies are also developing GLP-1 obesity drugs, but their commercialization is expected to lag behind leading global companies. Consequently, strategies emphasizing differentiated, improved formulations or reduced side effects of both injectable and oral drugs are gaining traction. Approaches that move beyond the GLP-1 mechanism to simultaneously address muscle loss and metabolic diseases are also attracting attention.

Daewoong Pharmaceutical is pursuing non-injectable formulations with a microneedle patch-type obesity treatment applied to the skin. Microneedle patches aim to reduce pain.