More than four decades on from the approval of the first biologic drug, the industry has reached a tipping point, and biotech drugs now outnumber small molecules in the global R&D pipeline.

There are new data to chew over in the ongoing controversy about obesity being diagnosed as a disease from a study tracking 157,159 participants in the UK Biobank over 13 years. This shows that even in the absence of any metabolic disturbance such as elevated lipids, high blood pressure or diabetes, there is an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, heart failure and liver disease in people with a body mass index over 30.

There are new data to chew over in the ongoing controversy about obesity being diagnosed as a disease from a study tracking 157,159 participants in the UK Biobank over 13 years. This shows that even in the absence of any metabolic disturbance such as elevated lipids, high blood pressure or diabetes, there is an increased risk of heart attack, stroke, peripheral arterial disease, heart failure and liver disease in people with a body mass index over 30.

More than four decades on from the approval of the first biologic drug, the industry has reached a tipping point, and biotech drugs now outnumber small molecules in the global R&D pipeline. At the start of the biotech industry, progress was slow. Between 1983 and 1995, the U.S. FDA approved an average of two biologics each year. Now, biologics have taken the lead by the smallest of margins, accounting for 50.1% of drugs in development at the start of 2026, according to the Pharma Annual Review 2026, published by Pharmaprojects, a firm that tracks global pharma R&D.

More than four decades on from the approval of the first biologic drug, the industry has reached a tipping point, and biotech drugs now outnumber small molecules in the global R&D pipeline.

Ambrosia Biosciences Inc., named after the drink of the Greek gods, secured a $100 million series B to advance its preclinical pipeline of oral obesity drugs. The startup formed after Pfizer Inc. shuttered its Boulder, Colo.-based research facility that the pharma gained through its 2019 acquisition of Array Biopharma Inc.

Eli Lilly and Co. anticipates shipping newly approved Foundayo (orforglipron) within the next week, as the drug becomes the second oral weight-loss glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist to enter the U.S. market following December’s approval of Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy (semaglutide) pill.

A next-generation triple incretin therapy jointly developed by Novo Nordisk A/S and China’s United Biotechnology outperformed semaglutide in a phase II trial, signaling intensifying competition in the GLP-1 obesity and diabetes market.

Introduced last year as a pilot program, the U.S. FDA Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher (CNPV) could be here to stay – at least for the duration of Marty Makary’s tenure as FDA commissioner. Since the FDA unveiled the CNPV last June, it has welcomed 18 products from 16 companies into the “game-changer” program for patients, as Makary described it. The goal is to provide an “ultrafast review pathway,” one to two months instead of the standard 10 to 12 months, for drugs and biologics of strategic national importance while maintaining the FDA’s scientific and regulatory standards, according to the agency.

A next-generation triple incretin therapy jointly developed by Novo Nordisk A/S and China’s United Biotechnology outperformed semaglutide in a phase II trial, signaling intensifying competition in the GLP-1 obesity and diabetes market.