Orforglipron

Boehringer's Hernexeos faces long road to EuropeChai extends pharma deal streak with argenxKeytruda may offer chemo-free option in endometrial cancerNovo cracks open Europe's oral GLP-1 market Boehringer's Hernexeos faces long road to EuropeBoehringer Ingelheim said its newly launched lung cancer drug Hernexeos (zongertinib) is not expected to reach patients in Europe until 2028.The oral therapy for HER2-mutant advanced non–small-cell lung cancer has already launched in the US — where it obtained a full approval by the FDA earlier this year after an accelerated approval last August — as well as in China and Japan, but the company said it will wait for Phase III data before seeking a European launch.The delayed European rollout was disclosed during Boehringer's first-half results presentation, where it reported a 16.2% currency-adjusted increase in sales to €15.8 billion, driven by diabetes, heart failure and chronic kidney disease medicine Jardiance (empagliflozin). The drug generated €5.7 billion, benefiting from a "large and growing patient base" and higher volumes following changes to the US pricing and reimbursement environment.Boehringer also highlighted strong early demand for Jascayd (nerandomilast), its treatment for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and progressive pulmonary fibrosis, which has been approved in the US, China, Japan and several other markets while awaiting an EU decision. The company said recent launches, together with Jardiance, helped lift Human Pharma sales 20.1% to €13.1 billion in the first half.Chai extends pharma deal streak with argenxOn the heels of a $400-million series C that more than doubled its valuation, Chai Discovery has again added to its list of pharma collaborators by striking an AI-driven antibody discovery pact with argenx.Under the deal, argenx gains early access to Chai's molecular design platform to support de novo antibody discovery against therapeutic targets, adding another major partner alongside recent collaborations with Novartis, Pfizer and Eli Lilly.The partnership combines argenx's antibody engineering and immunology expertise with Chai's generative AI models, which are designed to predict and reprogramme molecular interactions to create biomolecules with specific functional properties.Keytruda may offer chemo-free option in endometrial cancerMerck & Co. said Keytruda (pembrolizumab) significantly improved progression-free survival (PFS) over standard platinum-doublet chemotherapy in a Phase III trial of patients with mismatch repair deficient advanced or recurrent endometrial cancer who had not previously received systemic chemotherapy or who experienced recurrence more than six months after completing prior adjuvant therapy. Findings from the KEYNOTE-C93 study could pave the way for a potential chemo-free treatment option in the frontline setting, indicated Brian Slomovitz, the trial's overall principal investigator. According to Merck, KEYNOTE-C93 is also the first Phase III trial to show a PD-1 inhibitor used alone can outperform platinum doublet chemotherapy in this patient population.At an interim analysis, the study met its PFS endpoint, while showing a "trend toward improvement" on the other main goal of overall survival, though those data are still immature. Keytruda also demonstrated clinically meaningful overall and complete response rates, along with durable responses, Merck said. Results from the ongoing trial are set to be presented at an upcoming medical meeting and submitted to regulators.Novo cracks open Europe's oral GLP-1 marketNovo Nordisk has added two more arrows to its obesity-treatment quiver after obtaining approval from the European Commission for its Wegovy pill, making it the EU's first oral GLP-1 therapy for chronic weight management, alongside a higher-dose 7.2-mg Wegovy injection in a single ready-to-use pen.The Wegovy pill, which was granted a positive opinion from the EU's drug advisory body in May, was ​approved based on study data showing that people who took it lost an average 17% of their body weight after 64 weeks on treatment, ‌compared ⁠with about 3% with placebo. Meanwhile, Novo said the new 7.2-mg injector has demonstrated average weight loss of 21% in clinical studies.The oral product has now secured approvals in five markets, following earlier green lights in the US, UK, United Arab Emirates and Bahrain. Wednesday's nod gives the Wegovy pill a headstart in the EU market over Eli Lilly's competing product Foundayo (orforglipron), which has yet to clear ​regulators there.

China represents a major market opportunity for weight loss therapies, both for injectables and next-generation pills. Credit: Boxyray/Shutterstock.com. MindRank has raised $52m to advance its pipeline of candidates discovered and designed by artificial intelligence (AI), including a lead glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) currently in a Phase III trial in China. MindRank, which is based in China’s Zhejiang province capital Hangzhou, has built a Molecule Arts Platform (MAP) that utilises a mix of computation, experimental evidence, and clinical learning to advance biology and chemistry. This, the biotech adds, creates a “unified” R&D system to uncover new medicines. The Series B raise will help build out the platform, along with supporting lead drug candidate MDR-001. The oral GLP-1RA entered a Phase III trial (NCT07274137) for obesity treatment in 2025 and is also in clinical development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. Obesity forms the lion’s share of indications MindRank is currently pursuing. The biotech has a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) asset, a cannabinoid receptor 1 (CB1), and two further undisclosed programmes, all for obesity indications. Two oncology indications mark the sixth and seventh programmes in MindRank’s pipeline. “Our goal is to translate advances in computation and AI into better medicines for patients,” said Zhangming Niu, founder and CEO of MindRank. “By integrating biological, chemical, computational and clinical data into a continuously learning R&D engine, MAP is designed to make drug discovery and development more predictable, scalable and capital-efficient.” Obesity market’s global expansion The global obesity market is currently dominated by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, companies that market Zepbound (tirzepatide) and Wegovy (semaglutide). Tirzepatide is branded as Mounjaro and semaglutide is marketed as Ozempic for type 2 diabetes in the US. Mounjaro is also the brand name for tirzepatide outside the US. According to GlobalData’s Obesity: Seven-Market Drug Forecast and Market Analysis – Update , the obesity market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.3% until 2031 in the seven major markets (7MM: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US). China represents a major market opportunity, both for injectables and next-generation pills. Novo’s CEO Mike Doustdar confirmed last month that the company will seek regulatory approval for its Wegovy weight loss pill in China, while Lilly has already submitted a marketing application for Foundayo (orforglipron). Both companies’ injectables are approved in China, branded as Wegovy and Mounjaro. In addition to the two major drugmakers, there are numerous Chinese biotechs alongside MindRank developing obesity drugs, with key readouts having already come so far this year. In May 2026, Vincentage Pharma’s oral GLP-1RA met its endpoints in a Phase III obesity trial. Earlier this month, Hengrui Pharma’s GLP-1RA netted two Phase III wins in obesity and type 2 diabetes. Novo is also co-developing a triple agonist of the receptors for GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon with China-based United Laboratories. The therapy demonstrated 19.7% weight loss in a Phase II trial as per a readout in February 2026, which is more than injectable Wegovy achieves.