China’s Hengrui Challenges Eli Lilly’s Zepbound with 18% Weight-Loss Trial Results

China-based Jiangsu Hengrui Pharmaceuticals and its U.S. partner Kailera Therapeutics have reported promising late-stage clinical trial results for their weight-loss drug HRS9531, achieving an average of 16-18% body weight reduction over 48 weeks, which is comparable to Eli Lilly’s Zepbound that showed about 21% weight loss in similar trials. Nearly 90% of participants in the HRS9531 trial lost at least 5% of their body weight, with 44% achieving at least 20% weight loss, highlighting the drug’s competitive efficacy in the global obesity treatment market. This signals a rising challenge from Chinese biotech firms to established Western pharmaceutical leaders like Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, who dominate the $150 billion weight-loss drug sector. Kailera Therapeutics aims to further prove HRS9531’s superiority in upcoming trials outside China and expand its global reach, while Eli Lilly is advancing new weight-loss treatments including a highly anticipated pill and Retatrutide, a follow-up drug expected to outperform Zepbound. The surge of over 60 novel weight-loss drugs in late-stage trials in China, many targeting the GLP-1 pathway, reflects China’s emerging role as a significant innovator in obesity therapeutics. Although the Chinese drug does not immediately threaten Eli Lilly’s market dominance, it exemplifies increasing competition and innovation in the global obesity drug race.