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BEIJING, June 16 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO plans to seek Chinese regulatory approval for its weight-loss pill "very soon," CEO Mike Doustdar said on Tuesday, as it moves to catch up with rival Eli Lilly LLY.N in the world's second-largest pharmaceutical market.

Danish drugs giant Novo and U.S.-based Eli Lilly believe weight-loss pills could appeal to patients reluctant to use injections and are racing to expand the use of medicines that have transformed weight-loss treatment and reshaped the global pharmaceutical industry.

Eli Lilly said in March it submitted a marketing application for orforglipron, its once-daily oral non-peptide GLP-1 agonist, to China's drug regulator at the end of 2025.

Novo's Wegovy pill, approved in the U.S. and the UK, contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient as its blockbuster injectable drug of the same name and Ozempic.

In China, sales of GLP-1 medicines through the two major e-commerce platforms of Alibaba 9988.HK and JD.com 9618.HK totalled about 1.4 billion yuan ($207 million) in the first quarter, according to Jefferies.