Weight-loss drugs present an enormous opportunity in the healthcare market. Wegovy and Mounjaro are some of the top-selling drugs available in that indication, and companies that make them -- Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly -- have seen their share prices soar this year to levels that have put them among the most valuable healthcare businesses in the world.

There will almost certainly soon be more competition in this highly lucrative market, and one company that may be among those debuting a new weight-loss treatment in the next few years is AstraZeneca (AZN 0.19%).

AstraZeneca pays for the license to an experimental obesity drug

Earlier this month, the U.K.-based drugmaker announced that it would be acquiring the license for an anti-obesity drug candidate from the Chinese company Eccogene. The company believes that ECC5004, the drug candidate, may have fewer side effects than the injectable treatments that have been approved so far. While CEO Pascal Soriot knows his company is behind when it comes to the first-mover advantage, he says that "we are working on the next wave of products".

ECC5004 will be entering phase 2 trials within the next few months. An oral medication, it still has a long way to go to prove it is as effective as the popular injectables. AstraZeneca, nonetheless, is paying $185 million up front and could pay close to $2 billion depending on how the drug performs in clinical trials, whether it obtains regulatory clearance, and how well it sells if it does.

ECC5004 is similar to Wegovy and Zepbound, as it is a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) drug that helps people feel full and thus reduces their appetite.

Not its first attempt in weight loss drugs

Earlier this year, AstraZeneca abandoned a GLP-1 drug candidate it was developing, cotadutide, saying that it would focus instead on AZD9550, a treatment for non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, a type of fatty liver disease.

A few months later, the company announced that it was giving up on another GLP-1 treatment, AZD0186, as its results in early trials were underwhelming.

Be aware of the risks

The hype cycle can be a big risk when it comes to investing in companies based on weight-loss drugs and drug candidates. Some that are touted as potential miracle treatments end up flopping and becoming disappointments for various reasons later. In the 1990s, for instance, the combination drug fenfluramine/phentermine, better known as fen-phen, was first lauded for its weight-loss results, but was eventually pulled from the market after regulators determined that had seriously hazardous side effects, in some cases damaging patients' heart valves or causing pulmonary hypertension.

These new GLP-1 drugs, while very different in terms of how they operate, have potentially concerning side effects of their own. Last month, researchers at the University of British Columbia found that GLP-1 drugs can increase the risk of gastrointestinal problems, including stomach paralysis and bowel obstruction. These drugs are relatively new to the market right now. As people use them longer, it's possible that more side effects will begin to become apparent.

If AstraZeneca can bring a weight-loss drug to market that has fewer potential side effects, that could give it an advantage over rival products. But at this stage, it's too early to tell if ECC5004 will be successful on that front.

AstraZeneca is a dark horse that shouldn't be overlooked

AstraZeneca is one of the largest healthcare companies in the world, and if it's focusing on weight-loss drugs, investors should take note, as it could become a serious rival for Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in the future.

And one reason investors may want to consider taking a chance on AstraZeneca, even though it doesn't have a weight-loss drug on the market right now is that, at 34 times trailing earnings, it trades at a much lower valuation than Eli Lilly (109) or Novo Nordisk (42). Granted, there is much more uncertainty about AstraZeneca's ability to be a big player in the weight-loss market, but there's also no guarantee that Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly will keep their leads in this market.

AstraZeneca's more modest valuation and its broad portfolio of products could make it a great investment right now. Even if it isn't able to bring a successful weight-loss treatment to market, considering the many therapeutic areas that it has had successes in, its broad and robust business could make it a good stock to hold in your portfolio for many years. At worst, this is a diversified healthcare company that generates double-digit percentage profit margins. At best, it's a healthcare giant that may soon have an effective weight-loss treatment that could rival some of the big names in the industry.

I'd caution against having sky-high near-term expectations for AstraZeneca or ECC5004, but the stock has the potential to deliver some great returns for investors who are willing to buy and hold for years.