On November 12, Lilly’s ($LLY) innovative first-in-class drug—the oral GLP-1 weight-loss medication orforglipron calcium tablets (brand name: Muyouda)—was officially approved for marketing by China’s National Medical Products Administration, becoming the first oral GLP-1 weight-loss drug approved in China.
📌 Key highlights at a glance:
* Highly convenient to take (no restrictions on timing or meals): Unlike competing products (such as oral semaglutide), which must be taken on an empty stomach under strict conditions, Muyouda can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. This greatly lowers the barrier to treatment for people reluctant to use injections.
* Impressive clinical data: The Phase 3 ATTAIN-1 trial showed average weight loss of 12.4% at 72 weeks in the highest-dose group. A head-to-head trial published in The Lancet (ACHIEVE-3) further confirmed that its blood sugar-lowering and weight-loss effects both surpass those of oral semaglutide, while also significantly improving sleep apnea and cardiovascular measures.
* Reliable production capacity and supply chain: As a non-peptide small-molecule drug, it is efficient to synthesize and requires no cold-chain transport. Lilly announced in March this year that it would invest $3 billion in China over the next decade to expand local production capacity. The company has confirmed that there are no supply constraints in the Chinese market.
📈 Commercial potential and competitive landscape:
* A very high ceiling: Jefferies estimates that the drug’s global peak annual sales could exceed $25 billion (even surpassing Goldman Sachs’ earlier estimate of a $22 billion global oral weight-loss drug market by 2030).
* A two-horse race, with domestic players catching up: Lilly has secured an early lead in China’s approval window, while Novo Nordisk ($NVO) also plans to submit an application for domestic marketing approval of oral semaglutide in the near term. Oral drug candidates developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies such as Innovent and Hengrui are also in mid-to-late-stage clinical development.
As oral formulations break through the barriers of cold-chain logistics and injections, online pharmaceutical retailers are set for a new wave of consumer-driven growth (in Q1 2026, GLP-1 sales at Alibaba and JD.com alone reached RMB 1.4 billion).
Eli Lilly and Company is a pharmaceutical company founded on May 10, 1876, by pharmacist Colonel Eli Lilly. Its headquarters are in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Lilly conducts clinical drug trials in more than 50 countries, has R&D centers in 8 countries, and operates drug manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. Its products are sold in 143 countries and regions worldwide.
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📌 Key highlights at a glance:
* Highly convenient to take (no restrictions on timing or meals): Unlike competing products (such as oral semaglutide), which must be taken on an empty stomach under strict conditions, Muyouda can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. This greatly lowers the barrier to treatment for people reluctant to use injections.
* Impressive clinical data: The Phase 3 ATTAIN-1 trial showed average weight loss of 12.4% at 72 weeks in the highest-dose group. A head-to-head trial published in The Lancet (ACHIEVE-3) further confirmed that its blood sugar-lowering and weight-loss effects both surpass those of oral semaglutide, while also significantly improving sleep apnea and cardiovascular measures.
* Reliable production capacity and supply chain: As a non-peptide small-molecule drug, it is efficient to synthesize and requires no cold-chain transport. Lilly announced in March this year that it would invest $3 billion in China over the next decade to expand local production capacity. The company has confirmed that there are no supply constraints in the Chinese market.
📈 Commercial potential and competitive landscape:
* A very high ceiling: Jefferies estimates that the drug’s global peak annual sales could exceed $25 billion (even surpassing Goldman Sachs’ earlier estimate of a $22 billion global oral weight-loss drug market by 2030).
* A two-horse race, with domestic players catching up: Lilly has secured an early lead in China’s approval window, while Novo Nordisk ($NVO) also plans to submit an application for domestic marketing approval of oral semaglutide in the near term. Oral drug candidates developed by Chinese pharmaceutical companies such as Innovent and Hengrui are also in mid-to-late-stage clinical development.
As oral formulations break through the barriers of cold-chain logistics and injections, online pharmaceutical retailers are set for a new wave of consumer-driven growth (in Q1 2026, GLP-1 sales at Alibaba and JD.com alone reached RMB 1.4 billion).
Eli Lilly and Company is a pharmaceutical company founded on May 10, 1876, by pharmacist Colonel Eli Lilly. Its headquarters are in Indianapolis, Indiana, United States. Lilly conducts clinical drug trials in more than 50 countries, has R&D centers in 8 countries, and operates drug manufacturing facilities in 13 countries. Its products are sold in 143 countries and regions worldwide.
$LLY.US
$SPCX.US
$GOOG.US
