Pfizer, Innovent GLP-1 drugs added to China national insurance for diabetes
SHANGHAI/BEIJING, Nov 14 (Reuters) - GLP-1 drugs from Pfizer PFE.N and Innovent Biologics 1801.HK will be added to China's state-run health insurance scheme from January 1 for patients with type 2 diabetes, the National Healthcare Security Administration said on Saturday, in a fresh challenge to Danish rival Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO.
China has the highest number of adults with diabetes in the world, according to an estimate by the International Diabetes Federation. Pfizer's ecnoglutide and Innovent's mazdutide belong to the class of GLP-1 receptor agonist drugs already included in China's state insurance list from firms such as Novo, Eli Lilly LLY.N and Guangzhou Innogen Pharmaceutical 2591.HK.
Novo's Ozempic joined China's reimbursement list in 2022, followed by Lilly's Mounjaro and Innogen's efsubaglutide alfa from this year for patients with type 2 diabetes. Inclusion in the national reimbursement list makes drugs more widely available in the country of 1.4 billion people, though an increase in sales volume often comes with lower prices.
The GLP-1 class of weight drugs mimics a gut hormone to curb appetite and regulate blood sugar in patients with diabetes.
Sales of Ozempic injector pens in the greater China region of mainland China, Taiwan and Hong Kong — Novo's largest market after the US — slipped 7% to about 5.4 billion Danish crowns ($850 million) in 2025.
Other treatments to be added to the list include two Eli Lilly drugs for ulcerative colitis and Crohn's disease, as well as a CAR-T therapy from JW Therapeutics 2126.HK, according to company statements.
The CAR-T therapy, which engineers patients' immune cells to recognise and kill cancer cells, was the first to be included in the reimbursement list.