Commitments in obesity- and diabetes-focused deals reached $22 billion in the first quarter of 2026—already eclipsing last year’s total of $20.3 billion, according to a new J.P. Morgan report.
In just the first three months of 2026, biopharma has already pumped more money into obesity and diabetes licensing deals than in all of 2025, pointing to the sustained enthusiasm in this space.
As of March 31, companies have committed up to $22 billion in obesity- and diabetes-focused agreements, already surpassing last year’s $20.3 billion total, according to J.P. Morgan’s recently published Q1 licensing and venture report.
The total deal value takes into account milestones and other contingent payments that may not materialize for a variety of reasons. However, looking at upfront cash and equity commitments reveals that investments in this space remain “just as strong” as it has been in recent years, coming to $1.3 billion in the first quarter, already nearly half-way to 2025’s $2.9 billion total.
Digging into these patterns more closely, however, J.P. Morgan flagged a seeming slowdown in deals centered around GLP-1 and GIP drugs. Q1 saw only two such contracts, for which financial details haven’t been disclosed. There were eight deals involving these targets for the whole of 2025, with a total announced value of 10.8 billion, while GLP-1/GIP agreements peaked at 12 in 2023, racking up an aggregate deal value of $9.6 billion.
“Strategic interest remains high,” J.P. Morgan wrote in its report, referring to the overall pattern in obesity and diabetes dealmaking, “but deal flow is concentrated in a limited number of high-value transactions.” The firm didn’t name these transactions.
Obesity has indeed been a fertile field for planting partnerships in the first quarter. Eli Lilly kicked off the year by fronting $55 million to collaborate with Nimbus Therapeutics on a preclinical weight-loss asset. Not much has been revealed about this program, only that the partners expect it to address a “significant unmet need in obesity,” according to their news release at the time. Lilly pledged up to $1.3 billion in milestones.
AstraZeneca followed this up with a massive deal in late January, paying $1.2 billion upfront to join hands with Hong Kong’s CSPC Pharmaceutical and secure exclusive global rights to a long-acting dual GLP-1/GIP drug. The pharma also received three preclinical weight-focused assets and will work with CSPC on four new programs. This agreement could rack up more than $17 billion in R&D and sales milestones.
Pfizer also looked eastward a few weeks later, putting $495 million on the line—covering an upfront payment plus regulatory and sales milestones—for Sciwind Biosciences’ GLP-1 injection that has been approved in China for type 2 diabetes and is being reviewed for obesity.
