Obesity Drug Pipeline: 251 Assets by Phase

How many obesity drugs are in each phase of development?

Douglas Insights counts 43 obesity candidates in Phase III, 17% of the 251 assets in development; Phase II holds 72 and Phase I holds 136.

Phase I/II candidates sit in the Phase I row and Phase II/III candidates in the Phase II row, so each obesity asset appears in exactly one row. The 782 trials still recruiting or running carry 43% of the 1,827 registered trials in scope.

Which approved obesity medicines are still in trials?

5 medicines already on the market are still being tested in obesity Phase IV trials; Semaglutide has the most, with 429 registered trials.

Post-approval obesity trials test new doses, new patient groups and head-to-head comparisons. They set the standard of care that every candidate in development will be measured against, so the paid review profiles each one.

How many obesity trials are recruiting patients now?

395 obesity trials are recruiting patients and 196 more have not started recruiting yet, out of 1,827 interventional trials in scope; together they make up 32% of the trial base.

Terminated, suspended and withdrawn obesity trials stay in the trial base so that a stalled programme is visible, but a candidate whose only trials stopped is no longer counted as in development.

Which companies lead the obesity pipeline?

Novo Nordisk A/S leads the obesity pipeline with 16 candidates; the top 5 sponsors hold 21% of the 251 assets, and 128 sponsors run at least one.

Industry sponsors lead 882 of the 1,827 obesity trials (48%); universities, hospitals and public funders lead the rest. A sponsor is credited with an asset when it is the lead sponsor on most of that asset's industry trials.

Which drug types and mechanisms dominate the obesity pipeline?

Mechanism and drug-type classification for the 251 obesity candidates is done by the research desk asset by asset, each with a cited source, and is published in the paid review together with the white-space map.

What obesity trial readouts are coming next?

55 obesity candidates in Phase II or later have a registered primary completion date in the next 12 months; the next three are below, each linked to its registry record.

Primary completion is the date a sponsor expects the last patient to finish the main measurement, so data usually follow within months. Dates marked estimated are the sponsor's own forecast on the registry and often move.

How many obesity readouts fall in each quarter?

68 obesity candidates in Phase II or later reach registered primary completion over the next eight quarters, with the most, 17, due in Q4 2026.

Each candidate is counted once, at its next readout. The paid catalyst calendar names every readout with its trial, sponsor and design, adds filings and regulatory decisions, and runs 24 months ahead.

Which countries host the most obesity trials?

United States hosts the most obesity trials, with sites in 885 of the 1,827 studies (48%); trials in scope run in 78 countries in all.

A multinational obesity trial is counted once in every country where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Country spread shows where sponsors are building the evidence that regulators in each market will ask for.

Where are obesity drugs being tested?

885 of the 1,827 obesity trials (48%) have a site in the United States, 402 (22%) in Europe and 335 (18%) in China; 127 of the 251 candidates in development are tested in the US.

Each region's trials are the evidence its regulator will review: the FDA in the United States, the EMA (with the MHRA and Swissmedic) in Europe, the NMPA in China and the PMDA in Japan. A multinational obesity trial counts once in every region where it has a site, so the shares add up to more than 100%. A candidate tested only outside the US and Europe is often a licensing opportunity for sponsors in those markets.

What has changed in the obesity pipeline since the last update?

Since 3 Oct 2026, the obesity pipeline count moved by +1 assets to 251, Phase III moved by 0 and the trial base by 0.

How does Douglas Insights count the obesity pipeline?

Douglas Insights read 1,827 interventional trials registered on ClinicalTrials.gov for the conditions "obesity", "overweight" and updated since 3 Oct 2021, then grouped every drug or biologic named in them into 251 unique candidates.

1. Code names, generic names and brand names of the same molecule are merged into one candidate, and every merge is reviewed by the research desk.
2. A candidate counts when it has a trial that is recruiting, running, or completed in the last 24 months, and at least one industry-sponsored trial.
3. Its phase is the highest phase among those trials; placebo, standard-of-care and comparator arms are not candidates.
4. Each figure on this page is drawn from one frozen dataset that passes ten checks before release, and the owner approves every edition.

Read the full approach on the research methodology page, or browse other Pharmaceuticals research.

Frequently asked questions about the obesity pipeline

Research & citation

This review was researched, written and reviewed by the Douglas Insights Research Desk under the Douglas Insights editorial standards. Material errors are logged in the corrections log. No section is sponsored.

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