(Yicai) July 7 -- A public hospital in Beijing has issued the first prescription for Mazdutide, the first glucagon-like peptide-1 weight-loss drug developed by a Chinese firm and approved for marketing in the country.

Ji Linong, a professor at Peking University People's Hospital, prescribed Mazdutide to a patient on July 3.

China’s National Medical Products Administration approved Mazdutide for chronic weight management in adults, the drug's developer Innovent Biologics announced on June 27, making it the world's first dual-glucagon/GLP-1 receptor agonist approved for weight loss.

More doctors in public hospitals will begin prescribing Mazdutide from this week, meaning global weight-loss drug giants Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly will face much tougher competition in China.

Innovent’s shares [HKG: 1801] closed 4.2 percent lower at HKD82.55 (USD10.52) each in Hong Kong today. The stock has increased in value by 133 percent year to date.

Besides actively expanding into public and private medical institutions, Suzhou-based Innocent will prioritize online and offline sales channels, its Chief Financial Officer You Fei said at Mazdutide’s launch event.

Innovent has not yet announced Mazdutide's pricing. However, its commercial strategy head said at the same event that the company would bear in mind competitors’ products, domestic patient affordability, and their willingness to pay.

“Chinese manufacturers have no constraints on production capacity," an industry insider told Yicai, adding that Novo Nordisk's and Eli Lilly's weight-loss drugs are still not produced in China.

“Because weight-loss drugs are highly consumer-driven, Chinese companies’ strengths in internet-based marketing should boost sales," a person involved in Mazdutide's launch told Yicai, predicting that the drug could account for half of the Chinese market.

More domestic GLP-1 novel weight-loss drugs are expected to enter the market. According to Southwest Securities, about 30 were in mid-to-late clinical trials at the end of last year, half of which have already entered Phase III.

The global market for weight-loss drugs will grow to USD150 billion by 2030, UK bank Barclays has predicted. Meanwhile, the Chinese GLP-1 treatments market will likely reach CNY40 billion (USD5.6 billion) by then, according to Founder Securities.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Futura Costaglione