PFE Buys Oral GLP-1 Drug From China Biotech to Boost Obesity Presence

December 10, 2025 — 07:43 am EST Written by Kinjel Shah for Zacks-> Pfizer PFE announced that it is in-licensing exclusive global rights to develop, manufacture and commercialize YP05002, an oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) from YaoPharma, a subsidiary of China’s leading drugmaker, Shanghai Fosun Pharmaceutical.YP05002 is currently being evaluated in phase I for treating obesity. Once-daily oral small molecule GLP-1 RAs are believed to have the potential to transform obesity treatment and broaden access.YaoPharma will complete the phase I study on YP05002 before handing over exclusive rights to Pfizer to further develop the candidate. Pfizer plans to evaluate YP05002 in combination with its own GIPR antagonist PF-07976016, which is currently in phase II development and also with other small molecule candidates in its early-stage pipeline.Under the deal, YaoPharma will receive an upfront payment of $150 million from Pfizer, as well as the right to future milestone payments of up to $1.935 billion and tiered royalties on sales, if approved.The global collaboration and license agreement with YaoPharma strengthens Pfizer’s presence in the obesity space, where it has been looking to get a foothold after it scrapped the development of danuglipron, a weight-loss pill, earlier this year. To pursue this objective, in November, it acquired obesity drugmaker, Metsera, for $10 billion, after a heated bidding war with Danish rival, Novo Nordisk NVO.The acquisition adds Metsera’s four novel clinical-stage incretin and amylin programs in obesity, which are expected to generate billions of dollars in peak sales.Pfizer failed to develop its own obesity candidate earlier this year. In April, Pfizer discontinued the development of its GLP-1R agonist, danuglipron, which was being developed as a weight loss pill. Pfizer took the decision after one of the participants in the dose-optimization studies developed a potentially drug-induced liver injury, which resolved after danuglipron was discontinued. The deal with Metsera and the license agreement with Yaopharma bring Pfizer back strongly on the obesity map.The obesity market is expected to expand to $100 billion by 2030, according to data from Goldman Sachs. Eli Lilly LLY and Novo Nordisk presently dominate the market, with their popular GLP-1 drugs, Zepbound and Wegovy, respectively, which are injectable treatments.Novo Nordisk, LLY, Structure Therapeutics and Viking Therapeutics VKTX are racing to introduce oral weight-loss pills as these have the potential to be more convenient alternatives to injections like Zepbound and Wegovy. Novo Nordisk has already filed regulatory applications for an oral version of Wegovy in the United States and the EU and also has an oral pill, amycretin (a dual GLP-1 and amylin receptor agonist) in its pipeline. The FDA is expected to decide on the Wegovy oral formulation NDA later this year.Lilly has announced positive data across six studies on orforglipron, a once-daily oral GLP-1 small molecule, in obesity and type II diabetes. Lilly plans to file regulatory applications for orforglipron in obesity later this year, setting up the timeline for a potential launch next year. For the type II diabetes indication, Lilly plans to file regulatory applications in the first half of 2026.Viking’s dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Earlier this week, Structure Therapeutics announced positive top-line data from the ACCESS clinical program on aleniglipron, its once-daily oral small molecule GLP-1 RA, for treating obesity. In the ACCESS studies, aleniglipron delivered clinically meaningful and dose-dependent weight loss without any evidence of a plateau by week 36. The safety profile of aleniglipron seen in the studies was appropriate for chronic use. Structure Therapeutics is gearing up to initiate late-stage studies of aleniglipron for obesity around mid-2026, pending alignment with the FDA. Pfizer’s stock has declined 4.5% so far this year against an increase of 12.8% for the industry. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchFrom a valuation standpoint, Pfizer appears attractive relative to the industry and is trading below its 5-year mean. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 8.04 forward earnings, lower than 16.48 for the industry and the stock’s 5-year mean of 10.43.Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchThe Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2025 earnings has risen from $3.08 per share to $3.14 per share, while that for 2026 has been stable at $3.15 per share over the past 60 days. Image Source: Zacks Investment ResearchPfizer has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here. Want to be tipped off early to our 10 top picks for the entirety of 2026? History suggests their performance could be sensational. From 2012 (when our Director of Research Sheraz Mian assumed responsibility for the portfolio) through November, 2025, the Zacks Top 10 Stocks gained +2,530.8%, more than QUADRUPLING the S&P 500’s +570.3%. Now Sheraz is combing through 4,400 companies to handpick the best 10 tickers to buy and hold in 2026. Don’t miss your chance to get in on these stocks when they’re released on January 5. Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free reportPfizer Inc. (PFE) : Free Stock Analysis ReportNovo Nordisk A/S (NVO) : Free Stock Analysis ReportEli Lilly and Company (LLY) : Free Stock Analysis ReportViking Therapeutics, Inc. (VKTX) : Free Stock Analysis ReportThis article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).Zacks Investment ResearchThe views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.This data feed is not available at this time.