February New Drugs｜War for GLP-1 weight-loss drugs escalates again

According to EvaluatePharma 2025 report, the annual sales of GLP-1 drugs will account for 9% of the global prescription drug market, indicating that diabetes and weight management as the core treatment of the drug, the market position is greatly enhanced, and gradually rewrite the map of chronic disease treatment, due to the clinical efficacy of the GLP-1 weight loss of the new drug, the average weight loss of nearly 20%; GLP-1 class of drugs to share the proportion of the global diabetes drug prescription signatures will rise rapidly from 8% in 2023 to 2026, the effect is similar to gastric surgery. 20%, the effect is similar to gastric surgery; GLP-1 drugs share the rapid increase in the proportion of global diabetes prescription signatures, will increase from 8% in 2023 to 12% in 2026, GLP-1 drugs by virtue of the convenience of injections or oral version of the weekly, significantly better than insulin 3 times a day of the cumbersome dosage, is accelerating the replacement of insulin as the main force of type 2 diabetes treatment, as well as the development of a new drug market, which has become the mainstay of chronic disease treatment, and a new drug market. As the mainstay of type 2 diabetes treatment, GLP-1 drugs have continued to expand their therapeutic indications, and the adoption of health insurance subsidy policies and rapid growth in commercial insurance coverage have led to the continued expansion of the patient population.
Driven by the explosion of demand for diabetes and weight management, the market performance of GLP-1 drugs has exceeded expectations and accelerated the expansion of its global market size, which is expected to exceed US$100 billion in the next 2-3 years. GLP-1 drugs are not only the new favorites in the field of weight loss for weight management, but also the star drugs for the management of many chronic diseases. From the perspective of competition among the only two approved GLP-1 weight loss drugs on the market, Eli Lilly's tirzepatide, which has been on the market for less than three years, will generate sales of US$36.507 billion in 2025 with its therapeutic combination of two brands, Mounjaro® and Zepbound®, almost surpassing the sales of Novo Nordisk's already existing drug, Novo Nordisk, at an astonishing rate of growth. Novo Nordisk's star drug semaglutide, which has been on the market for many years, will generate combined sales of 228.3 billion Danish kroner (about 34.6 billion U.S. dollars based on the average exchange rate) in 2025 under its three brands, Ozempic®, Rybelsus®, and Wegovy® , as well as sales of 31.7 billion U.S. dollars by 2025 under the former king of anticancer drugs, Keytruda®, which will generate sales of 35.4 billion U.S. dollars. With sales of DKK 228.3 billion (US$34.6 billion at average exchange rates) in 2025, and sales of Keytruda® in 2025, the former king of anticancer drugs, of US$31.7 billion, tirzepatide has already succeeded in becoming the world's top drug.