Novo Nordisk 
NVO rose 0.27% intraday after CEO Mike Doustdar told reporters the company plans to submit oral Wegovy for Chinese regulatory approval “very soon,” estimating a timeline of “a few months.” The comments came during Doustdar’s first China visit since taking the role in August, as Novo looks to catch up with Eli Lilly 
LLY in the world’s second-largest pharmaceutical market.
Lilly filed a marketing application for once-daily orforglipron with China’s regulator at the end of 2025. Both are GLP-1 pills aimed at patients who won’t use injections. Novo’s semaglutide patent expired in China in March 2026, though the company retains regulatory data protection until early 2027. Doustdar expects generic competition to emerge from Q2 2027, but he said manufacturing scale would keep most rivals from matching Novo’s capabilities, with Pfizer 
PFE and local player Innovent Biologics also in the mix.
GLP-1 sales through Alibaba and JD.com hit roughly 1.4 billion yuan ($207 million) in Q1 2026, per Jefferies, but Lilly and other players do not disclose China-specific sales figures.
