Pfizer is rolling the dice again on an oral obesity pill.
The pharmaceutical giant signed an exclusive global license agreement with YaoPharma, a subsidiary of China’s Fosun Pharma.
The deal involves YP05002, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 agonist, with a $150 million upfront payment plus up to $1.935 billion in milestone rewards.
This marks Pfizer’s third serious attempt at cracking the lucrative oral obesity market after two high-profile failures left investors skeptical about the company’s ability to deliver in a space now dominated by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.
What we know about YP05002?
YP05002 is a small-molecule oral GLP-1 receptor agonist currently in Phase 1 development for chronic weight management.
Unlike the injectable blockbusters Wegovy and Ozempic (Novo Nordisk) or Zepbound and Mounjaro (Eli Lilly), this pill promises patient convenience and potentially simpler manufacturing.
Pfizer gains exclusive worldwide rights once YaoPharma completes its ongoing safety trial in Australia. The deal signals Pfizer’s determination to play in an obesity market projected to hit $150 billion by 2030.
YaoPharma will complete the ongoing Phase 1 trial before handing global rights to Pfizer, which plans combination studies with its glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide receptor antagonist PF-07976016 and other pipeline molecules.
The financial structure reflects typical biotech licensing: $150 million up front and tiered milestone payments totaling up to $1.935 billion across development, regulatory, and commercial launches, plus royalties on sales.
The broader bet is that an oral candidate, more convenient than injectables, could eventually capture significant market share.
Looming regulatory ghosts
The oral GLP-1 prize is enormous. Oral semaglutide (Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus) and forthcoming pills from Eli Lilly are poised to reshape the obesity landscape.
Analysts project that oral GLP-1 therapies could eventually command $50 billion in annual sales by the early 2030s, according to Wall Street estimates.
Yet Pfizer’s track record here is troubling. In April 2025, the company abandoned danuglipron, its lead oral GLP-1 candidate, after a participant experienced potential drug-induced liver injury.
Earlier, in December 2023, Pfizer scrapped the twice-daily formulation of danuglipron due to poor tolerability, with over 50% patient discontinuation rates driven by nausea and vomiting.
Before that, Pfizer discontinued lotiglipron in June 2023 due to similar liver safety signals.
These failures highlight the challenge of small-molecule GLP-1s: delivering efficacy without gastrointestinal or hepatic toxicity that exceeds injectable alternatives.
YaoPharma’s Phase 1 data and safety profile will be crucial. If YP05002 shows clean tolerability, Pfizer could accelerate Phase 2 initiation.
Regulatory commentary from the FDA will matter as the agency’s previous skepticism may shape how aggressively Pfizer can advance this molecule.
Pfizer’s Metsera acquisition, a deal announced for obesity drugs, suggests the company is hedging its bets with multiple programs rather than betting everything on YP05002.
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