At present, the obesity market is dominated by once-weekly, subcutaneously injectable medicines agonizing the glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor (GLP-1R), and in the case of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound/Mounjaro (tirzepatide), also the gastric inhibitory peptide receptor (GIPR). Although most patients seem to be satisfied with the currently available medicines, a weekly injection can sometimes be a burden for the patient. Thus, longer-acting candidates allowing once-monthly administration may become the next generation of obesity management drugs, according to GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

GlobalData’s latest report “The State of the Biopharmaceutical Industry 2025 Edition” highlights anti-obesity medications as the industry trend to have the greatest impact in the next 12 months. The wave of investment into the obesity market is driving the development of possibly the next generation of obesity drugs, discovering new mechanisms of action, developing oral candidates instead of injectables, and trying to decrease the burden on the patient by decreasing the frequency of administration.

Amgen and Metsera are the two companies that seem to be pioneering the option of a once-monthly dosing obesity medicine.

Costanza Alciati, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The less frequent dosing regimen cannot be an excuse for lower efficacy; therefore, these ultra-long acting candidates in development must show an efficacy comparable to the current standard of care once-weekly therapies on the market, namely Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound/Mounjaro.”

Amgen’s MariTide (maridebard cafradutide) was the first candidate to show good efficacy in a once-monthly dosing regimen, with 17% average weight loss observed in patients at 52 weeks, with no weight loss plateau and up to 99% of patients losing >5% of their body weight.

More recently, Metsera announced the Phase IIa results for its MET-097i candidate, initially in development for once-weekly dosing but whose long half-life made it a candidate for once-monthly dosing too.

Alciati continues: “Despite the short duration of the trial and the low number of patients in each cohort, Metsera’s candidate seems very promising, facilitating a placebo-adjusted mean body weight loss of 11.3% in just 12 weeks, with no weight loss plateau observed. This amount of weight loss in such a short time frame is impressive. Now, we will see if these results can be maintained in bigger trials, in a bigger cohort.”

It is an exciting time to be in the obesity drug development space. According to GlobalData’s “GLP-1R Agonists in Type 2 Diabetes and Obesity” report, GLP-1R agonists will reach sales of $125.3 billion by 2033 in the seven major markets (namely the US, France, Germany, Italy, Spain, the UK, and Japan), and 90% of sales will be from obesity drug sales.

Alciati concludes: “Amgen’s and Metsera’s drugs could definitely be part of the next generation of obesity medicines. We can expect that to include oral candidates, new mechanisms of action, and ultra-long-acting drugs. The exciting thing is that all those are already in clinical stage, thus the next generation drugs might be closer to reaching the market than expected.”