China clears Pfizer’s GLP-1 weight-loss drug Xianweiying
SHANGHAI, March 6— Pfizer said on Friday that China has approved its GLP-1 treatment Xianweiying for long-term weight management in overweight or obese adults, expanding competition in a fast-growing market for metabolic therapies that analysts expect to be worth billions of dollars in the coming years.
The U.S. drugmaker announced the approval on its official WeChat account, saying the injectable medicine belongs to the class of GLP-1 receptor agonists used to manage weight and metabolic conditions. These medicines are already sold in China by pharmaceutical companies including Novo Nordisk.expanding presence in china’s metabolic marketXianweiying, also known as ecnoglutide, is designed for long-term weight management in adults classified as overweight or obese. GLP-1 receptor agonists work by mimicking a hormone that helps regulate appetite and blood sugar levels, making them widely used in treatments for obesity and diabetes.Demand for these therapies has risen globally as governments and healthcare systems increasingly focus on managing obesity and related chronic illnesses.
China, with a large patient population and growing demand for advanced treatments, has emerged as a key market for pharmaceutical companies seeking to expand metabolic disease portfolios.Pfizer’s approval positions the company alongside other drugmakers already offering GLP-1-based therapies in the country.licensing deal with chinese biotechEarlier this year, Pfizer licensed the mainland China commercialisation rights for Xianweiying from Sciwind Biosciences, a biotechnology company based in the eastern Chinese city of Hangzhou.
Sciwind said at the time that the agreement marked “an important first step to advance Pfizer’s global strategy in the metabolic field in China,” according to a previous company statement.The partnership allows Pfizer to commercialise the treatment in mainland China while leveraging Sciwind’s development work on the drug.existing approval for diabetes treatmentEcnoglutide has already been approved in China as a treatment for Type 2 Diabetes, providing the drug with an established regulatory pathway before its latest approval for weight management.The additional indication expands the medicine’s potential patient base as health authorities increasingly address obesity as a major public health issue.The growing use of GLP-1-based treatments has intensified competition among global pharmaceutical companies, particularly in large healthcare markets such as China where demand for obesity and diabetes therapies continues to rise.
