Eli Lilly's Orforglipron Becomes First GLP‑1 Weight‑Loss Pill Approved in China

China has approved Eli Lilly's weight-loss pill orforglipron, the country's medicine regulator said on Thursday, according to Reuters. Reuters reports that Lilly is the first drugmaker to have a GLP-1 weight-loss pill approved in China. Until now, China had approved only injections for weight management, according to Blockonomi.

Shares reacted before the US open. Investing.com reported Lilly up 2.8% in premarket trading, TradingKey put the gain at more than 3%, and a post on X said shares gained 3%. These are premarket figures from news reports, and the regular-session move was not yet available when we checked.

The competitive picture matters. Novo Nordisk filed for approval of an oral version of Wegovy in China in August and has no clearance yet, according to Blockonomi, so Lilly has a time advantage. Investing.com says the pill will still compete with once-weekly GLP-1 injections from Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Innovent Biologics. On market size, Blockonomi cites a J.P. Morgan forecast that annual GLP-1 weight-management sales in China could reach 30 billion yuan in five to seven years, against an estimated 3 billion to 4 billion yuan today.

What to watch: Lilly has not said how it will price the pill or when it will launch in China, and Novo's decision on oral Wegovy could narrow the first-mover window.