The first domestically approved "weight loss needle" has been launched! Injection | Excitant | Weight loss Injection
The first GLP-1 receptor agonist for weight loss has finally been launched in China.
On the evening of July 4th, Huadong Pharmaceutical announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary, Hangzhou Zhongmei Huadong Pharmaceutical Co., Ltd., had received a "Drug Registration Certificate" approved and issued by the National Medical Products Administration. The application for marketing permission for the obesity or overweight indication certificate of Liraglutide Injection applied by Zhongmei Huadong was approved.
Before Liluping was approved for weight loss treatment, its diabetes indication was approved for domestic listing in March this year.
Lilupin is a human glucagon like peptide-1 receptor agonist with 97% sequence homology with human GLP-1. GLP-1 is one of the three popular targets for the development of non insulin hypoglycemic drugs, and has also become the most popular target in the field of weight loss drugs in recent years. GLP-1 receptor agonists can reduce weight by delaying gastric emptying and central appetite suppression.
In the global market, Smegglutide, which has both hypoglycemic and weight loss effects, is being sought after, and Smegglutide is also a GLP-1 receptor agonist. The difference between Liraglutin and Smegglutide is that the former is a short-acting product that requires one injection per day; The latter belongs to long-term products and can be administered once a week.
The World Health Organization has designated obesity as one of the top ten chronic diseases, and obesity, along with hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and hyperglycemia, is known as the "death quartet". The number of obese patients in China has significantly increased. According to the report "Nutrition and Chronic Disease Status of Chinese Residents", more than 50% of adult residents are overweight or obese, and the overweight/obesity rates of children aged 6-17 and under 6 years old have reached 19% and 10.4%, respectively.
There is a huge unmet demand for weight loss drugs in the Chinese market. Before the approval of the launch of Liluping by East China Medicine, the main weight loss drug in China was Olistat. However, the gastrointestinal adverse reactions, liposoluble vitamin absorption disorders, and unclear long-term cardiovascular risks of this drug also limited its widespread clinical application.
In the short term, the listing of Huadong Pharmaceutical's Lupin can to some extent compensate for the insufficient supply of weight loss drugs in the market.
However, in the long run, the drug will still face fierce market competition.
Liraglutide from East China Medicine belongs to the category of biologically similar drugs. The original manufacturer of Liraglutide Injection is Novo Nordisk. The indications for obesity or overweight in the original Liraglutide Injection were approved by the US FDA in 2014 and EMA in 2015, with the trade name Saxenda ®， As of now, this indication has not been approved in China. However, with the expiration of the patent for liraglutide, there are over 10 domestic manufacturers in the layout of liraglutide injection biosimilar drugs.
In addition, Novo Nordisk is also planning to launch slimming indications for Smegglutide in China.
On June 3rd, the official website of the National Medical Products Administration's Drug Review Center showed that Novo Nordisk's new indications for Smegglutide Injection had submitted a marketing application. Although the specific content of the indication was not disclosed in the accepted variety information, it is widely believed in the industry that this application may be for a weight loss indication.
Huadong Pharmaceutical is still deeply laying out its GLP-1 product pipeline.
The reporter from China Business News learned from East China Pharmaceutical that the company has built an innovative drug research and development platform for obesity, diabetes and diabetes complications with GLP-1 target as the core.
At present, East China Medicine has established a GLP-1 and related target product pipeline that combines long-acting and multi-target global innovative drugs and biologically similar drugs, covering various dosage forms such as oral and injection, including 4 clinical projects and 2 IND development projects. The world's first GLP-1R/GCGR/FGF21R long-acting triple target agonist DR10624 developed by Daoer Biotechnology, a subsidiary of East China Pharmaceutical Holdings, is undergoing phase I clinical trials in New Zealand; The company introduced GLP-1R/GIPR double target agonist SCO-094 and its derivatives from SCOHIA PHARMA, Inc. in Japan, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, obesity, nonalcoholic steatohepatitis and other diseases; The company's Sigmaglutide Injection is in the Phase I clinical trial stage; The small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist HDM1002 independently developed by the company was submitted for IND application in China in February 2023; And the globally innovative small molecule oral GLP-1 receptor agonist TTP273 has completed phase II clinical trials.
