Key takeaways
- New GLP-1 drugs are coming onto the market in 2026 and beyond
- These new products could widen up GLP-1 drugs to a much larger and different audience: creating an even bigger impact on F&B than seen to date and shifting who core users are
- New drugs could also have different impacts on how people react to food and drink: and therefore what they want and need from products.
An incredible one in 10 American adults are already taking GLP-1 drugs. Products like Wegovy, Ozempic, Zepbound and Mounjaro are now household names.
And that number could just continue to rise as more drugs come onto the market. And the next generation of drugs won’t be GLP-1 drugs as we know them: they’ll be cheaper, more accessible, more effective and with fewer side effects.
Food and drink companies are innovating around GLP-1 users. They’re thinking about how products can meet the needs of GLP-1 users: with products for protein or hydration. But the needs of GLP-1 users could evolve significantly as new drugs come onto the market.
So what are the drugs coming through the pipeline?
New launch: Orforglipron
Just approved: Eli Lilly’s Foundayo (orforglipron).
This drug, which got the green light from the FDA on April 1, stands out because it’s a tablet: a huge attraction for the millions of people who struggle with needles and injections.
Denmark’s Novo Nordisk had already won the race to get an oral GLP-1 drug onto the market (with a version of Wegovy in December): but Eli Lilly’s drug could shake up the market. The company will offer the pill via its own platform LillyDirect, which is already accepting prescriptions and with costs starting at $25 per month with commercial coverage (or $149 with self-pay).
While many observers are fixated on which is better, the reality is that having two types of pills on the market will propel the overall GLP-1 market onto a new level.
First of all, pills can reach a much wider population: apart from addressing the needle phobia held by many patients, pills are generally easier to make and distribute than injectable drugs. And with two types of drugs on the market, expect competition on pricing.
‘GLP-3’s: Retatrutide
Get ready for ‘GLP-3s’.
Retatrutide is a ‘triple agonist’ from Eli Lilly simultaneously activates three receptors: GLP-1, GIP and glucagon. By targeting three pathways, it suppresses appetite, improves glucose control and boosts calorie burning more effectively than current simple or dual agonists.
American pharmaceutical giant, Eli Lilly, has already demonstrated the safety and superior efficacy of the drug in late-stage clinical trials. But these trials are still ongoing. Full data is expected in mid-2026: which would put an FDA decision on the drug into late 2027 or 2028.
(It’s worth noting that the term GLP-3 is not scientifically accurate: but has emerged in mainstream media as a way to describe the triple pathways of the drug).
Understanding GLP-1 drug development: pharmaceutical cheat sheet
Investigational drugs: Those not yet approved by regulatory approvals and not available for public use
Clinical trials: Human trials to prove the safety and efficacy of an investigational drug (or an existing drug for a new use): often in comparison to its competitors.
Phase 3 trials: Large scale clinical trials with data used to inform regulatory applications
FDA approval: All new drugs in the US need the green light from the US Food and Drug Administration. In Europe, they need the green light from the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In the UK, the MHRA controls drug regulations.
Triple strength: High dose Wegovy
A standard dose of Wegovy is 2.4mg: the newly approved high dose shot is an incredible three times as strong at 7.2mg.
This super shot was approved by the FDA last month for use in people who tolerate the 2.4mg dose for at least four weeks: with a clinical trial suggesting it can help patients achieve 25% weight loss or even higher.
Bigger is better: a higher dose should mean quicker, more substantial weight loss in the people who need it the most.
Double power: CagriSema
Novo Nordisk’s CagriSema builds on the success of semaglutide by combining it with an amylin analogue (amylin helps manage blood sugar).
Results have not been as strong as Novo Nordisk had hoped for (the drug failed to beat Eli Lilly’s Zepbound in clinical trial results announced in February, sending the company’s share price spiralling down in reaction).
But CagriSema still shows superior weight loss to semaglutide alone. And its important to remember that many people on existing GLP-1 drugs don’t actually see any benefits (nearly a quarter, according to some estimates), so dual and triple drugs (like retatrutide above) with additional pathways for weight loss could prove to be critical in reaching these audiences.
An application for medical approval is already with US authorities, and a decision is expected in the second half of 2026. That would mean a 2027 launch.
MariTide
Most GLP-1 drugs require daily or weekly injections, depending on the specific medication required.
Amgen’s maridebart cafraglutide (MariTide for short), however, would be injected just monthly: or potentially even less.
MariTide is in Phase 3 trials, although results are not expected until 2027 which would put commercialisation behind some of the other GLP-1 contenders in the pipeline.
What do food and beverage manufacturers need to know?
So what do these new contenders mean for food and beverage?
The first is simply the scale of GLP-1 drugs and their impact. More drugs on the market mean more competition, and more competition means lower prices: meaning that they become within reach of more people.
In markets such as the US, the question of health coverage also becomes a critical factor. From July 1, 2026, Medicare will cover Wegovy and Zepbound for weight loss through a temporary federal program called the Medicare GLP-1 bridge: with a new model coming into place in 2027. That will again open up the GLP-1 market to far more people.
Then there’s also the question of efficacy. Not every GLP-1 drug works in the same way for every patient: and not every patient sees the weight loss they were hoping for. New drugs, with different mechanisms, could again widen up the audience.
In turn, that means more people will be looking for food and beverage products that meet their weight loss needs.
For food and drinks brands looking to innovate and embrace the needs of GLP-1 users, it’s going to be about looking at where the future users are coming from.
“The biggest opportunity segments may not even be the most prominent users today,” said John Dick, CEO and founder of consumer behaviour consultancy CivicScience.
“As costs of GLP1s come down, and insurance companies more regularly cover them, a massive new segment of non-coastal, middle-income, and rural Americans - where obesity rates are highest - will enter the market in droves.
“The needs, habits, and brand preferences of these new users will vary widely from the typical GLP-1 user today.”
And then there’s the question of how GLP-1 users react to food and drink. Right now, manufacturers are learning how to adapt to GLP-1 users: providing packaged foods that align with new nutritional needs, changing appetites and altered eating behaviour.
While the fundamentals are likely to remain the same (all GLP-1 drugs, for example, work by suppressing appetite, meaning smaller portions are essential), how people react to newer drugs could throw up plenty of surprises. Even the side effects of new drugs could reshape what consumers do - and don’t - want from their food and drink.
And even the smallest shift in how people react to such drugs (whether that’s through drinking less alcohol, needing more hydration, or muting ‘food noise’) could have a huge impact on what people want from food and beverages.
Drug development is expensive: and the new drugs in the pipeline are only there because they hold the potential to for mass market success. That means the GLP-1 contenders could make the landscape very different in just a couple of years.
Food and beverage manufacturers, therefore, must pay close attention to the latest drugs coming through the pipeline and anticipate what products will be needed to meet consumers’ needs.
