(Yicai) June 16 -- Weight-loss drug developers, such as Eli Lilly and Pfizer, are escalating their battle for market share in China, taking their competition into Shanghai’s busiest commercial districts with high-profile advertising campaigns aimed at boosting public awareness of their products.

The advertising push reflects intensifying competition in China’s rapidly expanding weight-loss drug market, where four major players are emerging: Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer and Innovent Biologics. Drugmakers are increasingly promoting the broader therapeutic benefits of their products as they seek to differentiate themselves from rivals.

At West Nanjing Road Station, a major interchange serving several Shanghai Metro lines, Innovent has occupied an entire corridor with large-format advertisements for its weight-loss injection Xinermei® (mazdutide). One stop away at Jing’an Temple Station, Eli Lilly has launched a campaign highlighting obstructive sleep apnea, an approved indication for its weight-loss drug tirzepatide. Last month, Pfizer also unveiled a giant “Pfizer Weight Management” advertisement opposite the Louis Vuitton flagship installation on West Nanjing Road.

As more products enter the market and supply expands, competition is expected to intensify further. Drugmakers are increasingly emphasizing differences in efficacy, indications and side-effect profiles to attract patients and strengthen brand recognition.

“Weight-loss drug ads are everywhere now; you can’t avoid seeing them,” a netizen told Yicai.

Drugmakers Highlight Differentiated Treatment Benefits

Yicai observed that Eli Lilly and Innovent are using their advertising campaigns to highlight additional therapeutic indications for their respective products. Eli Lilly’s advertisements emphasize tirzepatide’s approved indication for treating obstructive sleep apnea, while Innovent Biologics is promoting mazdutide’s potential use in treating fatty liver disease before the indication has received regulatory approval.

Behind the prominent advertising displays lies a fierce battle for market share. While Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk remain the market’s established leaders, products from Pfizer and Innovent are gradually increasing their presence in the market.

As a newer entrant, Innovent has stressed mazdutide’s potential benefits for fatty liver disease in its marketing materials. Pfizer, meanwhile, has promoted its weight-loss candidate by emphasizing a milder side-effect profile.

“Each weight-loss drug has its unique characteristics, and competition among enterprises can provide patients with more treatment options,” Liu Lianyong, chief of the endocrinology department at the Punan Branch of Shanghai Renji Hospital, told Yicai. “What patients truly need is not merely a lower body weight figure, but sustainable, effective and comfortable improvements to their metabolic health.”

According to data from the World Health Organization, around 2.5 billion people worldwide are overweight, and 890 million are living with obesity, underscoring the enormous growth potential of the global weight-loss drug market.

Editors: Tang Shihua, Emmi Laine