Sept. 12, 2023
Updated on June 17, 2025, with new candidates, mechanisms, and disease targets. You may sign up for notifications. The entire dataset can be downloaded. Read about China’s newly fertile scene. Previous articles describe the bet that amylin can rival GLP-1 as the next big obesity target; a strategy involving gene silencing; efforts to preserve muscle. Also available in a single report: our award-winning Obesity Revolution.
The blazing success of weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro has electrified the pursuit of new treatments for obesity. For now, Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are leading the market with injectable drugs that target receptors of the GLP-1 hormone to mimic the hormone’s effects of helping people feel full. But dozens of companies are also jumping into the race, seeing the potential to make millions of dollars if they can bring to market medications that are oral, longer-lasting, avoid side effects, or provide additional benefits besides weight loss.
More than 170 drugs are now in the tracker. Many of these drugs are also targeting receptors of GLP-1, as well as other hormones involved in satiety and metabolism, but some are using entirely novel mechanisms.
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