In May, Chinese regulators approved Eli Lilly and Company’s Mounjaro (tirzapatide) for type 2 diabetes. On 21 July, the major US drug maker announced on social media network WeChat the approval of the GLP-1/GIP agonist in China for weight loss, as Zepbound.
Mounjaro Approval Takes Global Obesity Battle To China
New Policies Also Released
The global battle of the blockbuster obesity drugs appears set to come to China with the approval of Lilly's Mounjaro, although domestic competitors are fast catching up.
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RemeGen is planning to complete enrolment in the global Phase III RemeMG study with telitacicept in generalized myasthenia gravis by the end of 2025 or early 2026. The Chinese firm has already sidelined two other global Phase III trials with the molecule to prioritize the indication.
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UK pharma will invest $2.5bn in Beijing R&D hub, build a vaccine manufacturing site with BioKangtai, and partner in chronic disease with Syneron and in oncology/immunology with Harbour BioMed.
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While diverging from partner Merck & Co. in its study dosage of sacituzumab tirumotecan, Kelun has garnered the world’s first approval, in China, for a TROP2-targeting antibody-drug conjugate, for the treatment of lung cancer.
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Chinese biotech TYK Medicines says its EGFR inhibitor outperformed AstraZeneca’s same-class blockbuster Tagrisso in a pivotal Phase II trial for first-line use in brain metastases resulting from EGFR mutation-positive non-small cell lung cancer.
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Lilly’s Mounjaro arrives in India, with the 2.5mg vial priced at under $41 in a market that has over 100 million diabetics and increasing obesity rates. Will the product see sharp demand like in China, carving out a chunk of the pie ahead of the potential arrival of semaglutide generics and could there be concerns of ‘suitcase' exports?
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South Korea's LigaChem is kickstarting a growth and globalization drive through a potential future acquisition of UK ADC player IKSUDA.
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Professor Anil Koul shares vignettes of his life and career trajectory, a captivating mix of hope, science and destiny that took him to the lab of eminent cancer biologist Alex Ullrich at the Max Planck Institute and also saw him contribute to the development of breakthrough TB drug bedaquiline. He also talks about Medicine 3.0 and the intersection of science and spirituality.