Semaglutide injection following Novo Nordisk（ozempic）After being approved in China, its semaglutide was taken orally（rybelsus）It was also approved for listing recently.
On January 26, it was learned from the official website of the State Food and Drug Administration that Novo Nordisk's semaglutide tablets were approved for marketing, which is also the first oral GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonist marketed in China.
It is worth mentioning that although semaglutide is famous for its weight loss effect, it is regarded as the "best miracle drug" by the world's leading people, and has been popular with secondary market funds.
However, the oral drug semaglutide approved this time is still only used for type 2 diabetes** in China, not for weight loss indications.
On January 29, the A-share ** pharmaceutical sector opened higher and then went down, and the trend diverged significantly. As of **, Jinkai Biotech's daily limit, Haofan Biotechnology rose nearly 8%, and Nuotai Biological, Changshan Pharmaceutical and other stocks followed suit; Stocks such as Hanyu Pharmaceutical, Aimeike, and Proton shares were frustrated and led the decline.
It is reported that semaglutide tablets are the oral dosage form of semaglutide, a super single product of GLP-1 receptor agonists, which is composed of semaglutide and absorption enhancer SNAC. Among them, the absorption-producing effect of SNAC can increase the molecular bioavailability of semaglutide by about 100-fold in the oral route of administration.
In September 2019, Novo Nordisk's semaglutide tablets were approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for marketing** type 2 diabetes, becoming the world's first approved oral GLP-1 drug.
Since then, the popularity of semaglutide tablets has accelerated in Europe, Japan and other countries and regions, and this time it has landed in China, and Novo Nordisk's global market layout has expanded again.
In the field of indications, like the semaglutide injection previously approved in China, the oral drug semaglutide tablets are only used for type 2 diabetes** and do not involve weight loss.
Diabetes mellitus is a chronic metabolic disease that causes abnormally high blood sugar levels in the body due to insulin deficiency or impaired insulin action (persistent hyperglycemic state), and is one of the five leading causes of death in the world, with up to 4 million people dying from diabetes every year.
At present, diabetes is not allowed, but blood sugar control is the key. Among them, semaglutide can enhance insulin secretion in a glucose concentration-dependent manner, inhibit glucagon secretion, and delay gastric emptying by activating GLP-1 receptors, thereby reducing blood sugar through central appetite suppression.
From the perspective of the domestic diabetes competition pattern, Novo Nordisk can be described as a dominant company. According to the Pharmaceutical Finance Cloud database, the sales of China's diabetes drug market reached 575 in 20217.1 billion, of which diabetes injection preparations are slightly higher than oral hypoglycemic drugs, accounting for 5566% vs. 4434%。From the perspective of enterprises, Novo Nordisk alone occupies 4098% market share.
It is foreseeable that with the continuous expansion of Novo Nordisk, the market space for its oral hypoglycemic drugs is expected to be further opened in the future.
Founder** noted that the sales of semaglutide oral dosage form (rybelsus) in the first quarter of 2023 were approximately 6US$400 million, an increase of 111% year-on-year. It is expected that the oral dosage form will also be rapidly increased after being marketed in China.
Of course, in addition to effective sugar control, GLP-1 drugs also have certain results in weight loss, which pushes up investors' expectations for the emerging market of ** drugs, which is also a place where the market concentrates on speculation.
Since standing on the cusp of the first-class drug market, Novo Nordisk's stock price has soared. According to Futubull data, in 2023 alone, Novo Nordisk will rise by more than 5%; Eli Lilly, which is also the leading pharmaceutical company, will also rise by more than 6% in 2023.
Among GLP-1 drugs, Eli Lilly's GIP GLP-1 dual receptor agonist tirzepatide is the only drug of its kind that can compete with semaglutide.
Under the strong market outlet, there are also a number of domestic enterprises on the layout. According to the Insight database, more than 40 pharmaceutical companies, including Aimeike, Hisun Pharmaceutical, and Livzon Group, are all laying out the first-class drug market.
According to incomplete statistics, more than 10 GLP-1 receptor agonist injection forms have been approved for marketing in the world for indications such as type 2 diabetes and weight loss.
Among them, there are two main domestic GLP-1** drugs approved for marketing in China, namely Benaglutide Injection of Renhui Biotech and Liraglutide Biosimilar of Huadong Medicine. The weight loss indications of the two major international hit products, semaglutide and tirpatide, have not been approved.
According to the drug clinical trial registration and information publicity platform, the indication of "weight management" of semaglutide tablets is still in the phase III clinical stage in China.
At present, there are only two products on the domestic first-class drug market, and the industrial blue ocean field has not yet been fully developed, which is also one of the reasons why Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are given high expectations by the market.
Debang** believes that overweight and obese people account for more than half of Chinese adults, and it is estimated that the domestic population will exceed 600 million. Obesity poses a serious threat to personal health, and is significantly positively correlated with various chronic diseases such as hypertension, diabetes, and hyperlipidemia, which is the "root of all evils" for health. With the approval of a number of weight-loss drugs in the United States and China, the agency believes that the first-class drug market will usher in an explosion, with strong consumption attributes and large space, which is worth paying attention to.
Founder** said that API layout companies are recommended to pay attention to Nuotai Biological, Hanyu Pharmaceutical, Shengnuo Biologics, and Kailaiying. The layout enterprises of key excipients SNAC include Puluo Pharmaceutical, Puli Pharmaceutical, etc. It is recommended to pay attention to domestic innovative pharmaceutical companies that are deploying GLP-1 targets, such as Innovent Biologics and Borui Pharmaceutical.
Author: Hong Xiaodou.