Pfizer is planning to test a daily weight-loss pill in mid-stage trials later this year, as the struggling pharmaceutical group pins its hope on the experimental drug as its route into a market projected to be worth more than $130bn a year.

The New York-based drugmaker said on Thursday that it would begin studies to evaluate the optimal dose of the weight-loss pill in the second half of this year. The pill is based on the compound danuglipron — a glucagon-like peptide, or GLP-1, similar to those used in popular weight-loss drugs produced by Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly.

The announcement comes as Pfizer struggles to convince investors that it can find a path to growth after the Covid-19 pandemic, as sales of its blockbuster vaccine and other Covid products have plummeted.