How are next-generation obesity therapies reshaping competition in the GLP-1 market and beyond?
Coverage Period: Sep 1–Oct 4, 2026
Introduction
The defining story of this reporting period was the expansion of competition in the GLP-1 market and broader obesity landscape beyond headline weight-loss efficacy into a contest over combination biology, dosing convenience, portfolio breadth and affordability.
That shift matters because clinical performance alone may no longer determine competitive advantage. During the period, amylin-based combinations strengthened the case for multi-mechanism treatment, while new evidence and business development activity pushed less-frequent injections, oral therapies and non-incretin approaches further into the competitive landscape. At the same time, developments in South Korea showed how local manufacturing and lower pricing could reshape market access. The next phase of obesity competition may therefore depend on balancing efficacy with tolerability, convenience, persistence and cost.
Companies covered: Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly, Viking Therapeutics, Hanmi Pharmaceutical, Kallyope, Nanexa, Hengrui Pharma, Artelo Biosciences
Indications / areas covered: Obesity, weight management, GLP-1 therapies, amylin-based combination therapies, long-acting obesity therapies, oral obesity therapies, non-incretin obesity therapies, obesity treatment access and pricing
Executive Summary
- Amylin combinations moved closer to the center of next-generation obesity strategy. Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema and Eli Lilly’s eloralintide-tirzepatide regimen both produced encouraging weight-loss results, supporting the view that complementary mechanisms may extend efficacy beyond established incretin monotherapy. Lilly’s discontinuation rates, however, reinforce that tolerability will remain central to competitive differentiation.
- Treatment convenience is becoming a more important competitive factor in the GLP-1 market and broader obesity landscape. Viking Therapeutics reported durable weight-loss maintenance after switching patients to every-other-week or monthly dosing, while Novo added technologies and assets aimed at monthly or quarterly injections and once-weekly oral treatment. These developments indicate that reducing treatment burden may become increasingly relevant to persistence and product positioning.
- The next-generation obesity pipeline is broadening beyond a single mechanism or successor asset. Novo’s transactions spanning non-incretin programs, long-acting delivery technology and an oral dual agonist illustrate a portfolio approach to future obesity competition. Preclinical data from Artelo Biosciences also highlight continued exploration of mechanisms that could complement GLP-1 therapy.
- Regional competition may put more pressure on obesity drug pricing and access. Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s planned South Korean launch of EPPE could test whether local clinical evidence, domestic manufacturing and a potentially lower price can compete effectively against established global brands, particularly in a self-pay market.
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Strategic Perspective on GLP-1 Market and Next-Generation Obesity Therapies
Amylin-Based Obesity Combinations Raise the Next Weight-Loss Efficacy Question
Amylin emerged as the clearest next-generation treatment signal during the reporting period. Novo reported that CagriSema 1.0 mg/1.0 mg achieved 12.4% average weight loss versus 9.1% with tirzepatide 5 mg in REIMAGINE 5. Lilly separately reported up to 23.3% average weight loss with its highest-dose combination of eloralintide and tirzepatide in a Phase 2 study of patients with obesity and type 2 diabetes, compared with 14.8% for tirzepatide alone.
These results matter because they support a move from optimizing single incretin pathways toward combining complementary metabolic signals. Both programs suggest that amylin could become an important component of future obesity regimens, particularly for patients who do not achieve sufficient weight loss with current therapies.
The commercial implication is that the efficacy benchmark may continue to rise, but stronger weight loss will not automatically translate into a stronger product profile. Lilly reported treatment discontinuation due to side effects ranging from 10.8% to 27% across combination doses, compared with 2.9% for tirzepatide alone. That places greater importance on dose selection, titration and long-term treatment persistence.
Key Uncertainty: It remains unclear whether amylin combinations can preserve their efficacy advantage in larger trials while achieving tolerability and adherence profiles suitable for chronic use.
Longer-Acting and Oral Obesity Therapies Elevate Convenience as a Competitive Axis
Treatment burden gained greater strategic importance during the period as companies pursued alternatives to standard weekly injections.
Viking reported that patients switched from initial VK2735 treatment to every-other-week dosing maintained up to 97% of their previous weight loss over the following 12 weeks, while those receiving monthly dosing maintained up to 90%. The study provides early evidence that less-frequent maintenance dosing may be feasible, although longer follow-up is needed.
Novo is pursuing the same objective through several technologies. Its agreement with Nanexa provides access to a delivery platform intended to support monthly or potentially quarterly administration for selected peptide programs. Novo also licensed international rights to Hengrui’s HRS-1596, an early-stage dual-receptor agonist that could potentially be administered orally once weekly.
The market implication is important. As more therapies approach high levels of weight loss, dosing frequency and route of administration could become more meaningful differentiators. Longer intervals may reduce treatment burden, while oral options could broaden patient choice and create new competitive positions within a chronic treatment market.
Key Uncertainty: Less-frequent administration will need to demonstrate durable efficacy, acceptable pharmacokinetics and safety over longer treatment periods before convenience can become a proven commercial advantage.
Next-Generation Obesity Pipeline Expands Beyond Incretin-Only Innovation
Pipeline breadth became another clear competitive signal, particularly through external business development.
Novo acquired three obesity programs from Kallyope, including the IND-ready peptide K-554 and additional small-molecule programs targeting non-incretin biology. In the same period, it licensed Nanexa’s long-acting delivery platform for up to five programs and secured international rights to Hengrui’s HRS-1596 in a transaction valued at up to $2.6 billion.
The pattern indicates a portfolio strategy designed to create multiple routes to differentiation rather than relying on a single successor to current semaglutide-based products. Those routes now include new biological mechanisms, oral treatment, extended dosing intervals and combination approaches.
Artelo Biosciences provides an earlier-stage example of the same search for complementary biology. Its cannabinoid receptor agonist ART27.13 produced weight loss comparable to semaglutide in obese mice and greater weight loss when combined with semaglutide. The findings remain preclinical and cannot establish clinical efficacy, but they show that obesity research is continuing to explore mechanisms outside the dominant incretin framework.
For business development teams, this widens the opportunity set. Assets may attract interest not only because they can outperform current treatments independently, but because they could add differentiated efficacy, body-composition effects, tolerability or dosing flexibility to existing platforms.
Key Uncertainty: The central question is which emerging mechanisms and delivery technologies will translate into meaningful clinical differentiation rather than simply increasing pipeline breadth.
Lower-Cost GLP-1 Competition Could Reshape Obesity Access in South Korea
Hanmi Pharmaceutical’s planned launch of EPPE shows that obesity competition may develop differently in regional markets where price, supply and local commercialization capabilities are especially important.
In a Phase 3 trial involving 448 Korean patients, EPPE achieved an average 9.75% weight reduction after 40 weeks. Its potential differentiation, however, may depend less on setting a new efficacy benchmark than on Korean-specific clinical evidence, local manufacturing and pricing.
Industry expectations cited in the source place a four-week supply in the 100,000-won range, compared with 216,000 won for starting-dose Wegovy and 278,000 won for Mounjaro. Hanmi has not confirmed the final price, so the extent of any pricing disruption remains uncertain.
If EPPE launches at a substantial discount, it could test whether affordability can expand the treated population in a largely self-pay market. Domestic production may also strengthen supply reliability, while Hanmi’s local primary-care reach could support adoption. The broader implication is that global obesity leadership may increasingly depend on market-specific access strategies rather than a single global product hierarchy.
Key Uncertainty: Final pricing, regulatory timing and real-world uptake will determine whether EPPE meaningfully changes competitive share or primarily expands the overall treatment market.
What We Are Watching Next in Obesity Drug Development
Phase 3 optimization of amylin combinations: Lilly’s dosing strategy and discontinuation profile will be important indicators of whether higher efficacy can be delivered with acceptable tolerability.
Durability of reduced-frequency obesity dosing: Longer-term VK2735 data will help establish whether every-other-week or monthly maintenance can sustain clinically meaningful weight loss.
Progress from newly acquired obesity assets: Development milestones for Kallyope’s non-incretin programs, Nanexa-enabled formulations and HRS-1596 will show which elements of Novo’s expanded pipeline move toward clinical validation.
EPPE approval, pricing and commercial uptake: South Korea will provide an early test of how far lower price, domestic manufacturing and local evidence can alter competition in an established GLP-1 market.
Clinical translation of non-incretin mechanisms: Artelo’s cannabinoid approach remains early, but future clinical evidence could clarify whether novel biology can add value alongside established incretin therapies.
Key Takeaway: Competition in the Obesity Market Is Broadening
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