What new products, recently or expected to launch in 2026, show blockbuster potential or will be transformative in key therapeutic areas? A look at the companies and products rising to the top of the class. 

Each year brings the promise of new market entrants, so what is on tap for 2026? Clarivate, a business intelligence firm, in its 2026 Drugs To Watch report, identifies 11 drugs to watch in 2026–recently launched or likely to enter the market or meet a consequential milestone in 2026 forecast to become blockbusters (defined as reaching sales of $1 billion or more) within five years (by 2031) and/or to transform treatment paradigms. The analysis includes candidates in Phase II or Phase III trials, at pre-registration or registration stage, or already launched in 2025, including both novel treatments and drugs launched for new indications that could be particularly impactful to the industry. The dataset was then filtered for drugs that had total forecast sales of $1 billion or more in 2031. Expert analysts then added recently launched and soon-to-launch therapeutics to significantly transform treatment paradigms, even if they are not forecast to be blockbusters within five years.  

In its analysis, Clarivate identifies four major themes in its 11 drugs to watch for in 2026:  

• The race to reinvent weight loss, marked by Eli Lilly and Company’s orforglipron and retatrutide;  

• Bridging the rare and chronic disease treatment gap, marked by GSK’s Exdensur (depemokimab), Johnson & Johnson’s J&J’s icotrokinra, Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Voyxact (sibeprenlimab), and Sanofi’s tolebrutinib;  

• Redefining targetability in oncology with protein degraders, marked by BeOne Medicines’s BGB-16673 and Bristol-Myers Squibb’s (BMS) mezigdomide; and  

• Rethinking the research paradigm for women’s health, marked by Celcuity’s gedatolisib, Corcept Therapeutics’ relacorilant, and J&J’s Inlexzo (gemcitabine intravesical system).  

Note listen to the recent episode of the DCAT Value Chain Insights podcast, Production to Prescription, featuring an in-depth interview with Matthew Arnold, Principal Analyst and Content Strategist, Clarivate, on the 11 drugs making Clarivate’s Drugs to Watch list in 2026, key trends in product innovation, and the companies and products on the industry’s radar. 

Metabolic and obesity drug market: Lilly 
The obesity and metabolic disease market continues to be a high-growth area, with the global obesity drug market projected to reach $150 billion by 2035, according to the Clarivate analysis. Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists, used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, were the industry’s success stories with Novo Nordisk riding a blockbuster wave with Ozempic/Wegovy (semaglutide), respectively for treating Type 2 diabetes and obesity, and Eli Lilly and Company also riding the wave with Mounjaro/Zepbound (tirzepatide), a dual-activating GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and GLP-1 medication, respectively for treating Type 2 diabetes and obesity.  

The market for obesity drugs, in particular, is moving to the next phase. “Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists (RA) [are] entering a new phase of maturation and diversification,” said Clarivate in its analysis. “Orforglipron and retatrutide from Eli Lilly exemplify the next generation of metabolic therapies: oral formulations that promise improved adherence, triple-hormone mechanisms that deliver superior weight loss, and expanded therapeutic applications spanning from brain health to renal disease.” 

Orforglipron has once-daily oral administration to manage overweight/ obesity and treat Type 2 diabetes and is the first oral, non-peptide, small-molecule GLP-1 RA to reach Phase III trials. It can be taken without food or water restrictions at any time of the day. As such, it represents a breakthrough in convenience and accessibility compared with injectable alternatives, according to the Clarivate analysis.  

Clarivate projects a blockbuster future for orforglipron with expected sales of $11.1 billion for obesity in G7 markets (Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, the UK, and the US) in 2031, and $5.2 billion in expected sales of orforglipron for Type 2 diabetes in the G7 markets in 2031. Near term, the drug is expected to launch in 2026 in the US for treating Type 2 diabetes, and in 2027 in the US for treating obesity and in the European Union (EU), Japan, and the UK for treating obesity and Type 2 diabetes in 2027. The drug is also being evaluated for obstructive sleep apnea and hypertension in individuals with obesity.

Retatrutide is a single peptide with once-weekly subcutaneous administration with a triple mechansim of action, GLP-1, GIP and glucagon RA, to manage overweight and obesity and treat Type 2 diabetes. This triple action could enable “unprecedented metabolic effects over the current therapies that target only one or two receptors, potentially resulting in greater weight loss,” according to the Clarivate analysis. Clarivate projects $10 billlion in expected sales of retatrutide for obesity in the G7 markets in 2031, and $20.1 billion in expected sales of retatrutide for Type 2 diabetest in the G7 markets in 2031. Near-term, analysts project that it will launch in 2028 in the EU (obesity), Japan (Type 2 diabetes), UK (obesity), and US (obesity and Type 2 diabetes) and in 2029, in the EU and UK for Type 2 diabetes. It is also being evaluated for osteoarthritis, low back pain, prevention of cardiovascular disease, worsening of kidney disease and osteoarthritis  in individuals with obesity as well as nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)/metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH). 

Bridging the rare disease and chronic disease drug market: GSK, J&J, Otsuka, and Sanofi 
Rare diseases represent another key area of new product innovation for the bio/pharmaceutical industry. With over 7,000 rare diseases identified but only around 500 approved treatments by the US Food and Drug Administration and the European Medicines Agency, “the gap between diagnosis and meaningful care remains vast,” according to the Clarivate analysis. Although drug development in rare diseases continues to focus on cancers, representing 32 of the 108 (29.6%) drugs granted rare or orphan drug designations globally in 2025, drug development  is also increasingly addressing conditions across numerous other therapeutic areas, such as neurology/psychiatric and hematological conditions.  

Clarivate points to four drugs—GSK’s Exdensur (depemokimab), J&J’s icotrokinra, Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Voyxact (sibeprenlimab), and Sanofi’s tolebrutinib—as four drugs to watch for in 2026 that are bridging the gap between rare-disease and chronic-disease treatments. 

GSK’s Exdensur (depemokimab) is a monoclonal antibody targeting interleukin (IL)-5 for treating severe asthma in adolescents and adults. It is the first approved ultra-long-acting biologic with a six-month dosing schedule for severe asthma, which could provide greater convenience over currently available IL-5 inhibitors that require monthly or bimonthly dosing, according to the Clarivate analysis. Exdensur’s extended half-life has the potential to provide sustained inhibition of broad inflammatory functions, including suppression of Type 2 inflammation, and is being investigated in a variety of other IL-5-mediated inflammatory diseases, including chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (CRSwNP), a chronic inflammatory condition affecting 1% to 4% in the general population, as well as certain rare diseases: eosinophilic granulomatosis with polyangiitis (EGPA), a rare autoimmune disease, and hypereosinophilic syndrome, which refer to several rare medical conditions caused by an overload of certain white blood cells (eosinophils).  

Overall, the asthma treatment market is forecast to significantly grow due to the increased uptake of biologics such as GSK’s Nucala (mepolizumab), AstraZeneca’s Fasenra (benralizumab) and Sanofi’s/Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ Dupixent (dupilumab) as well as the introduction of Exdensur, which all support a shift toward more personalized treatment of asthma, according to the Clarivate analysis. It projects expected sales of $510 million for Exdensur in  G7 markets in 2031.  

J&J’s icotrokinra is a once-daily oral administration to treat plaque psoriasis and is also being evaluated to treat psoriatic arthritis and ulcerative colitis. J&J gained the drug through a 2017 license and collaboration agreement with Protagonist Therapeutics. Icotrokinra has the potential to be the first approved targeted oral peptide designed to block the IL-23 receptor, which plays a key role in the inflammatory process in moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis as well as ulcerative colitis. Based on Phase III results, icotrokinra has the potential to become a  leading oral agent for patients with psoriasis and an effective non-injectable option, according to the Clarivate analysis. The drug is expected to launch in the US in 2026 and in 2027 in the EU and Japan. Clarivate projects expected sales of $1.5 billion in the G7 markets in 2031. 

Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s Voyxact (sibeprenlimab) is a monoclonal antibody targeting APRIL (A PRoliferation-Inducing Ligand) used to treat IgA nephropathy (IgAN), a rare disease in which IgA antibodies build up abnormally and over time, leading to kidney damage or kidney failure. It is also being evaluated to treat Sjögren’s syndrome, an autoimmune disease that damages  moisture-producing glands. Clarivate projects expected sales of $955 million in the G7 markets in 2031. 

Sanofi’s tolebrutinib is a Bruton tyrosine kinase (BTK) inhibitor and once-daily oral administration to treat non-relapsing secondary progressive-multiple sclerosis. It has a novel mechanism of action that enables crossing the brain–blood barrier and addresses the core inflammatory processes underlying progressive MS, giving it strong potential over other treatments for progressive MS, particularly with the convenience of its oral administration over injectable therapies, according to the Clarivate analysis. It is expected to launch in the EU and US in 2026 and in Japan in 2027.  

Oncology and protein degraders: Bristol-Myers Squibb and BeOne Medicines 
One of the ongoing areas of drug development is to tackle so-called “undruggable” drugs, which refers to certain disease-associated proteins that lack traditional binding pockets, thereby making them highly difficult to target with conventional small-molecule drugs. Targeted protein degradation, which uses the cell’s innate protein degradation mechanisms to selectively down-regulate or eliminate pathogenic proteins, is a promising area to address that problem. Clarivate points to two protein degraders in oncology to watch for in 2026: BMS’ mezigdomide and BeOne Medicines’s BGB-16673.  

BMS mezigdomide is an oral drug to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma. It is part of the company’s lifecycle management strategy against generics incursion to replace the company’s Imnovid/Pomalyst (pomalidomide). Its other investigational multiple myeloma treatment, iberdomide, is being positioned as a more tolerable replacement for the company’s Revlimid (lenalidomide). Clarivate projects expected sales of $1.47 billion in the G7 markets in 2031.  

BeOne Medicines’s BGB-16673 is a once-daily oral administration to treat relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma. It is also being evaluated for relapsed or refractory Waldenstrom’s macroglobulinemia, a rare B-cell lymphoma, and other relapsed or refractory B-cell malignancies including mantle cell lymphoma and follicular lymphoma, and chronic spontaneous urticaria. Clarivate projects sales of $1.19 billion in the G7 markets in 2031. 

Potential in women’s health: J&J, Celcuity and Corcept Therapeutics 
Women’s health, which encompasses not only female-specific conditions but also health conditions disproportionately affecting women or affecting women differently than men, is another important area of growth for the bio/pharma industry. Clarivate points to three drugs to watch for in 2026 in women’s health: J&J’s Inlexzo (gemcitabine intravesical system), Celcuity’s gedatolisib, and Corcept Therapeutics’ relacorilant. 

• The key differentiator of J&J’s Inlexzo (gemcitabine intravesical system) is the delivery system, an intravesical drug-releasing system that provide extended local delivery of a cancer medication into the bladder as a bladder-sparing option performed in the outpatient setting. The device then remains in the bladder for about three weeks to release gemcitabine continuously. It was approved in the US in 2025 for the treatment of adult patients with Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG)-unresponsive, non-muscle invasive bladder cancer with carcinoma in situ (CIS) with or without papillary tumors. It is also being evaluated to treat muscle-invasive bladder cancer. Clarivate projects sales of $1.8 billion in the G7 markets in 2031.  

Celcuity’s gedatolisib is an intravenous drug for treating hormone receptor (HR)-positive/ human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative metastatic breast cancer. Outside of women’s health, it is also being evaluated for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer. Clarivate projects sales of $1.08 billion in the G7 markets in 2031. 

Corcept Therapeutics’ relacorilant is a selective cortisol modulator for treating patients with platinum-resistant ovarian cancer. It is under review in the US by FDA with a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target action date of July 11, 2026 and is also under review by EMA. Platinum-resistant ovarian cancer has limited, often short-lived, treatment options, with current therapies offering only modest benefit, and many are restricted by biomarker requirements, according to the Clarivate analysis. Recoiling addresses this gap by targeting cortisol-driven chemoresistence. Clarivate projects sales of $150 million by 2031. The drug is also being evaluated to treat endogenous hypercortisolism (Cushing syndrome) and hypercortisolism associated with adrenal adenoma or hyperplasia and  prostate cancer.