According to the app of China's leading financial news service, Albert Bourla, CEO of Pfizer (PFE.US), said the company is testing three new weight-loss drugs, one of which does not work through the currently available GLP-1 mechanism. He did not disclose the exact mechanism of the third drug, but mentioned that the other two drugs would be GLP-1 candidates, similar to Novo Nordisk's (NVO.US) Wegovy, which was recently approved in China.

Bourla said Pfizer plans to release data on the development of the weight loss candidate drug danuglipron later in 2024.

Other mid-stage weight loss candidate drugs include Viking Therapeutics' (VKTX.US) VK2735, Showa Denko Biotech's (GPCR.US) GSBR-1290, Altimmune's (ALT.US) pemvidutide, Zealand Pharma's petrelintide, and Amgen's (AMGN.US) AMG133 (also known as MariTide).

Analysts at the recent Seeking Alpha Investment Summit in New York said that even if other drugs are approved, Lilly's Zepbound and Novo Nordisk's Wegovy will continue to dominate the weight loss drug market.