As obesity rates continue to rise, so do pharmaceutical company investments in novel treatments. By some estimates, there were more than 160 obesity drugs in development in 2025, covering 68 mechanisms of action. Data analytics company Iqvia summed up the outlook for 2026: “ The global obesity market is entering a new phase. If 2024 was the transition year and 2025 the year of consolidation, 2026 is shaping up to be the year of acceleration… The question is no longer if obesity pharmacotherapy will transform obesity management, but how fast and how far it will go.”
Indeed, Medscape Medical News found a substantial increase in all types of candidate drugs for obesity in phase 1 to phase 3 trials right now, compared with the oral drugs we covered in June 2024.
Here’s a look at what to expect in 2026. We’ve categorized the drugs by companies instead of drug names because several companies have multiple drugs in development.
Aardvark Therapeutics
Aardvark has expanded its obesity pipeline with ARD-201, a once-daily, oral fixed-dose combination that pairs the company’s bitter taste receptor agonist ARD-101 with sitagliptin, a dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitor. The oral medication works by activating the bitter taste receptors in the gut and brain without creating an actual bitter taste, signaling the body to eat less. The strategy for the combination pill is to enhance and prolong satiety.
The company recently launched a phase 2 study to evaluate whether ARD-201 can limit weight rebound after stopping GLP-1s in adults who achieved substantial prior weight loss (at least 15%) on injectables.
Amgen
Amgen’s candidate weight-loss drug maridebart cafraglutide (MariTide) is now in phase 3 trials, having shown in phase 2 studies that the drug results in significant weight loss on a monthly dosing schedule, while also showing potential when administered quarterly. MariTide is a long-acting peptide–antibody conjugate that combines GLP-1 receptor agonism and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) receptor antagonism for treating obesity, as well as type 2 diabetes.
“We’ve already established strong treatment efficacy with monthly or less frequent dosing,” a company spokesperson told Medscape Medical News. “We also learned that multistep dose escalation improves tolerability at initiation, and that MariTide is very well tolerated at target doses. In chronic weight management, we now see that lower monthly — or even quarterly — dosing can maintain weight loss, while sustaining improvements in cardiometabolic parameters.”
Aphaia Pharma
As of February, Aphaia Pharma is evaluating its proprietary oral glucose formulation, APHD, in a second phase 2 trial in individuals with obesity, a company spokesperson told Medscape Medical News. The trial is informed by results and new mechanistic insights from an earlier phase 2 trial that evaluated APHD-12 as a once-daily or twice daily oral dose for obesity. The primary endpoint of the second phase 2 trial is the change from baseline in percent weight compared with placebo.
The drug candidate is “designed to be released at discrete parts of the small intestine to restore endogenous nutrient-sensing signaling pathways and stimulate the release of the broad spectrum of enteric hormones that control multiple homeostatic functions like appetite, hunger, satiety, glucose metabolism, and energy expenditure,” according to the company’s announcement. “This includes GLP-1, peptide tyrosine-tyrosine, glicentin, and oxyntomodulin, among others.”
Topline data from the second phase 2 trial are expected to be released by the third quarter of 2026, the spokesperson said.
Bloom Science
Bloom Science has dosed the first patient in a phase 1b trial of BL-001 in adults with obesity. BL-001 is an investigational oral live biotherapeutic product designed to replicate key metabolic effects of the ketogenic diet without requiring dietary restriction.
The phase 1b study is a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial designed to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and weight-loss effects of daily oral BL-001 given for 12 weeks in adults with obesity. The study will enroll up to 48 participants across two clinical sites in Australia.
In a previously completed phase 1 study in healthy adults, BL-001 was well tolerated with no serious adverse events reported. Among participants with overweight, significant placebo-adjusted weight loss was observed, accompanied by dose-dependent BL-001 strain kinetics and metabolic changes consistent with engagement of ketogenic pathways.
Boehringer Ingelheim
Survodutide is a glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist that activates both the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors, which play a role in controlling metabolic functions. The drug is being evaluated by Boehringer Ingelheim in a phase 3 clinical development program, including the SYNCHRONIZE studies for people living with overweight or obesity and the LIVERAGE studies for people living with metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and fibrosis. The phase 2 data for survodutide showed close to 19% weight loss in people with overweight or obesity. The company hopes to share findings from SYNCHRONIZE later this year, a spokesperson told Medscape Medical News.
Eli Lilly and Company
Lilly is continuing to develop retatrutide — an investigational, once-weekly, self-injectable, first-in-class GIP, GLP-1 and glucagon triple hormone receptor agonist — for adults with obesity or overweight, and for type 2 diabetes. The company recently announced positive topline results in the phase 3 TRIUMPH-4 trial of retatrutide in adults with obesity or overweight and osteoarthritis. Seven additional phase 3 trials are expected to conclude this year.
Lilly also is exploring the potential of bimagrumab to enhance body composition outcomes beyond weight loss alone, including preservation of lean mass, a company spokesperson told Medscape Medical News. Bimagrumab is currently being studied in an ongoing phase 2 trial with tirzepatide, alone or in combination, in people living with obesity or overweight. Results from this trial will be available later this year.
MBX Bio
MBX Bio’s lead obesity candidate, MBX 4291, is a once-monthly GLP-1/GIP co-agonist prodrug that was developed using the company’s proprietary Precision Endocrine Peptide (PEP) platform. Supported by proof-of-concept preclinical data, MBX 4291 is currently in phase 1 clinical trials, with 12-week topline data results expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, a company spokesperson told Medscape Medical News.
MBX is also developing two more candidates designed for once-monthly dosing. These include an amycretin drug intended to preserve muscle with weight loss, and a GLP-1/GIP/G-protein coupled receptor prodrug candidate, both of which have shown promising preclinical data to support clinical advancement, according to the spokesperson. MBX anticipates nominating these drug candidates for development in Q2 and Q3 2026.
Novo Nordisk
Novo Nordisk has multiple weight-loss drugs in various stages of development and approval, according to its R&D pipeline. These include, among others, monlunabant (phase 2); oral and subcutaneous zenagamtide (formerly called amycretin; both phase 2); CagriSema (phase 3); and cagrilintide (phase 3).
Pfizer
Pfizer also has multiple obesity candidates in development and ongoing trials. According to the company’s 2025 fourth-quarter earnings report, about 20 clinical trials in obesity are planned to advance this year, including 10 in phase 3. Candidates include PF’3944, a once-monthly GLP-1 obesity candidate acquired through Pfizer’s purchase of Metsera; an ultra-long-acting amylin analog, PF-08653945 (MET-233) (phase 2); and an oral GIPR antagonist, PF-07976016 (phase 2). Several candidates are in phase 1 or will launch this year.
PolyPid
PolyPid is developing PP03A, a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist delivery program. “The program is designed to leverage PolyPid’s proprietary Kynatrix technology to enable approximately 60-day controlled release and to provide a more linear release profile (zero-order kinetics), with the aim of avoiding the burst-release effect seen with current weekly-delivered therapies, which cause nausea and some of the digestive side effects,” a company spokesperson told Medscape Medical News.
PP03A is still in the preclinical stage. “Looking ahead, our next steps are focused on continued preclinical evaluation and optimization to support advancement toward clinical development,” the spokesperson said. “We expect to share initial preclinical data later this year.”
Structure Therapeutics
On December 17, Structure Therapeutics initiated a phase 1 study of its oral small molecule amylin receptor agonist ACCG-2671. The company is also moving forward with its once-daily or small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, aleniglipron.
The Big Question
In February, the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) made one pivotal trial the new default option for FDA drug approvals instead of two. Will the new FDA position have an impact on these drugs in development? Stay tuned.
https://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/beyond-glp-1s-which-weight-loss-drugs-are-way-2026a10007h1
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