China approval for Eli Lilly GLP-1 pill to come as soon as 2026, executive says

By Maggie Fick and Andrew Silver

BRUSSELS, June 24 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly's orforglipron type-2 diabetes and obesity pill could launch in China as soon as later this year, an executive at the U.S. drugmaker told Reuters, as rival Novo Nordisk seeks to catch up in the world's second-largest drug market.

U.S.-based Lilly and Denmark's Novo believe weight-loss pills could attract patients who are reluctant to use injections and are racing to expand use of drugs that have transformed obesity treatment and reshaped the global pharmaceutical industry. 

Launch timing for orforglipron in China could be "anything from late 2026 to early 2027," Lilly Executive Vice President Patrik Jonsson told Reuters in an interview on Tuesday.

Reuters was unable to reach China's National Medical Products Administration for comment on orforglipron approval timelines.

Novo has received early approval in countries including the U.S. and Britain for its own Wegovy weight-loss pill and launched it in the U.S. this year. Lilly followed quickly, securing U.S. approval in April for its oral drug, orforglipron.

In China, Lilly has moved first. In March, the company said it submitted a marketing application for once-daily orforglipron to the Chinese regulator at the end of 2025.

Novo Nordisk plans to seek Chinese regulatory approval for the Wegovy weight-loss pill "very soon," CEO Mike Doustdar told reporters in Beijing last week.

The rival drugs belong to a class known as GLP-1 medicines.

Jonsson said that there were no supply constraints in the country for orforglipron and it planned to sell through existing partnerships with Chinese e-commerce and healthcare firms Alibaba and JD Health International.

The market share of weight-loss drugs in China is unclear, as firms like Innovent Biologics, Pfizer and Lilly do not disclose sales figures.

Sales of GLP-1 treatments in China through major e-commerce platforms Alibaba and JD.com totalled about 1.4 billion yuan ($207 million) in the first quarter, according to Jefferies.

(Reporting by Maggie Fick; Writing and additional reporting from Andrew Silver in Shanghai; Editing by Thomas Derpinghaus)