Eli Lilly plans to invest $3 billion in China, which will help build production capacity for its experimental type-2 diabetes and obesity treatment orforglipron, according to Reuters.
Orforglipron, Lilly’s once-daily oral non-peptide GLP-1 agonist, helped adults with type 2 diabetes lose an average of 10.5% of their body weight over 72 weeks at the maximum dose in a late-stage clinical trial. It also demonstrated the ability to help maintain achieved weight reduction in patients previously treated with injectable GLP-1 drugs.
Last November, Eli Lilly received a Priority Review Voucher from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for orforglipron under the second wave of the agency’s fast-track review program.
This program, aimed at significantly accelerating the review of products that “address U.S. healthcare priorities,” has drawn criticism from experts. They have warned that accelerated approval could lead to drug safety issues, and that the opaque selection criteria could invite legal challenges.
Despite a pledge to review the drug within one to two months, the FDA has pushed the target action date for orforglipron to April 2026. The reasons for the delay have not been officially disclosed. Meanwhile, analysts have named orforglipron one of the most anticipated launches of 2026. Evaluate projects the new Eli Lilly drug could generate $11.8 billion in sales by 2032.
