Structure expects pills to capture up to 50% of GLP-1 obesity market by 2030

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By Maggie Fick, Sabrina Valle and Puyaan Singh

Jan 14 (Reuters) - Structure Therapeutics' GPCR.O CEO expects oral weight-loss pills to capture as much as half of the GLP-1 market by 2030, driven partly by pent-up demand from patients and doctors.

Structure estimates a market of between one and three billion obese and overweight people worldwide for oral weight-loss drugs, CEO Raymond Stevens told Reuters on Wednesday.

Stevens said the GLP-1 market has so far been driven by endocrinologists and obesity medicine specialists prescribing the drugs, which are made by Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO and Eli Lilly LLY.N.

"Now, all of a sudden, this is getting into the primary care physicians, your general practitioner ... that's where we're really going to see the most growth occurring," Stevens said, adding primary care doctors generally prefer prescribing oral medicines over injections.

The company is looking for a strategic partner that has strong relations with primary care physicians, Stevens said, adding "because at the end of the day, that's how you win."

"There are a lot of companies that are looking in the space ... They're going to do multiple deals in the space," Stevens said, as drugmakers seek to tap into the potential $150 billion weight-loss drug market.

Last November, Pfizer PFE.N acquired Metsera for $10 billion, gaining a foothold in the fast-growing market following a fierce bidding war with Novo Nordisk.

(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru, Sabrina Valle and Maggie Fick in San Francisco; Editing by Sahal Muhammed)

((Puyaan.Singh@thomsonreuters.com;))