Healthy Returns: Chinese obesity drug emerges as a potential rival to Eli Lilly's Zepbound
An experimental weekly injection developed by Chinese drugmaker Hengrui Pharma and its U.S.-based partner, Kailera Therapeutics, succeeded in a late-stage trial in China, putting the drugmakers on track to seek approval there.
Kailera is among several companies, such as Merck, Novo Nordisk and Regeneron, that have tapped the Chinese market in search of a drug that could win a slice of the booming weight loss drug market. In May 2024, Kailera licensed rights outside of the Greater China region to multiple experimental drugs from Hengrui in return for more than $100 million in upfront and near-term payments, a 20% equity stake and nearly $6 billion in future milestones.
Here's how the drug, dubbed HRS9531, performed in the trial: It helped patients lose nearly 18% of their body weight on average after 48 weeks, which is more than 16% greater weight loss than those on a placebo saw.
Almost 9 in 10 people who received the injection lost at least 5% of their body weight, and 44.4% of patients achieved at least 20% weight loss, according to a release from the companies. There was no plateau in weight loss at 48 weeks.
The companies didn't disclose specific safety data or how well patients tolerated the drug, only saying those results were consistent with previous data on the treatment and other GLP-1s. Most adverse events from the injection were gastrointestinal-related and mild to moderate in severity, the companies said.
Hengrui will file an approval application for the drug in China. Meanwhile, Kailera will start global studies that use higher doses and keep patients on the treatment for longer, the startup's CEO Ron Renaud said in the release.
It will likely still take several years before HRS9531 enters the market, particularly in the U.S. and other nations outside of China. But the drug's results appear to be promising, and position it as a potential competitor to Eli Lilly's weekly weight loss injection Zepbound.
Both drugs work by activating two naturally produced hormones in the body: glucagon-like peptide-1, known as GLP-1, and glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide, or GIP. The combination is said to slow the emptying of the stomach, making people feel full for longer and suppressing appetite by slowing hunger signals in the brain.
Across two phase three trials enrolling roughly 3,000 adults with obesity or Type 2 diabetes, Zepbound helped patients lose an average of up to 21% of their body weight over 72 weeks.
It's difficult to directly compare results from different clinical trials, especially since the latest results on HRS9531 were only from more than 500 patients. But the drug still achieved significant weight loss over 48 weeks, raising hopes about its potential over a longer period of time.
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk's weekly injection Wegovy only targets GLP-1.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Annika at annikakim.constantino@nbcuni.com.
Well folks, after a long saga, Anne Wojcicki has officially regained control of the embattled genetic testing company 23andMe.
Wojcicki co-founded 23andMe and served as CEO until the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in March. Her new nonprofit, TTAM Research Institute, has completed its acquisition of the Personal Genome Service and Research Services business lines of 23andMe, the company announced on Monday.
"As part of TTAM, 23andMe is continuing to operate and provide customers with personalized DNA testing and research services," the company said in a release. "TTAM is committed to providing customers with choice and transparency with their data, including the option to change their decision on whether to participate in research."
TTAM is an acronym for the first letters of 23andMe, according to The Wall Street Journal.
23andMe rocketed into the mainstream with at-home DNA testing kits that gave customers insight into their family histories and genetic profiles. But the five-time CNBC Disruptor 50 company struggled to generate recurring revenue and stand up viable research and therapeutics businesses after going public.
When it became clear that 23andMe's financials were shaky, Wojcicki submitted several proposals to take the company private while she was still its chief executive. Those plans were unsuccessful, and she ultimately had to compete against other prospective buyers in a bankruptcy auction.
And, of course, there were some unexpected twists.
In May, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals announced it would purchase most of 23andMe's assets for $256 million after it came out on top during the bankruptcy auction. But Wojcicki submitted a separate $305 million bid through TTAM and pushed to reopen the auction.
A month later, she did just that, and TTAM announced that it had successfully outbid Regeneron.
"I am thrilled that TTAM Research Institute will be able to continue the mission of 23andMe to help people access, understand and benefit from the human genome," Wojcicki said in a June statement.
Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to Ashley at ashley.capoot@nbcuni.com.
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Miami Herald
25 minutes ago
- Miami Herald
China slams ‘discriminatory' US bill curbing espionage via farmland
Maryland Sen. Angela Alsobrooks introduced a bill last week that would prevent foreign adversaries from buying up the nation's farm and timber lands in order to spy on the U.S. and interrupt its food supply chain - despite the fact that data shows investors from these nations own less than 1% of U.S. farm, timber and ranching lands, per the Department of Agriculture. Alsobrooks, a Democrat, who last week co-introduced the bipartisan bill alongside two Republican Senators and one Democrat, called the bill "commonsense legislation that will make us safer and stronger." In response, the Chinese Embassy called the bill discriminatory and urged the U.S. to rethink its international strategy. "The U.S. overstretches the concept of national security and deprives the right of institutions and citizens of particular countries to purchase farmland," the spokesperson for the Chinese embassy said in an email. While multiple experts The Baltimore Sun interviewed said scope of the threat is hard to determine because of difficulties collecting data on foreign investments, one food and national security expert says fears of food supply issues are overblown. "The perception of the threat doesn't match the reality of the threat," said Caitlin Welsh, the director of the Global Food and Water Security Program of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, on food-supply concerns. However, Welsh did say that there is an argument that some agricultural land purchases by foreign investors could be a potential national security concern, such as near military facilities. The bill Alsobrooks introduced would codify the Agriculture Secretary's role in reviewing farmland transactions made by investors from other countries to determine whether they pose threats to American security. Purchases from China, North Korea, Russia and Iran are subject to "special review," according to an email statement from Alsobrooks. The House of Representatives unanimously passed the bill in June. The Senate's version is not yet scheduled for a vote. Adding the Agriculture Secretary to certain conversations on the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. was a part of a Trump administration July plan created to monitor investors in other countries purchasing farmland, arguing that certain investments could put national and food security at risk. The secretary was added to the committee on July 8 via a memorandum of understanding; this bill would make that appointment permanent. The administration has pushed for prioritizing American businesses and limiting outside influence in the United States. "This is typically discriminatory and violates the principle of market economy and international trade rules, and will eventually hurt the U.S.'s own interests," China's embassy spokesperson said. "We urge the U.S. to immediately stop politicizing trade and investment issues." Alsobrooks did not respond by publication to a follow-up request for comment on the embassy's remarks. Military assets and espionage threats Maryland is home to several "sensitive sites," Alsobrooks said in a statement to The Sun, namely Camp David, federal agencies and Fort Meade. "It is absolutely critical these sites are safe from foreign adversaries," she said. Foreign investors are required to self-report agricultural land transactions to the U.S. Department of Agriculture under a 1978 law called the Agricultural Foreign Investment Disclosure Act. Danny Munch, an economist at the American Farm Bureau Federation, described Alsobrooks' bill as an effort to "streamline oversight" of foreign purchases of agricultural land between the Department of Agriculture which collects data under the 1978 law, and the committee that reviews foreign investments. "There is concern within some of the agricultural community that some of the … bad actors that could exist would not be reported," Munch said. Still, he said, some farmers like being able to sell their land "when and to who they want." A plan for a Chinese firm to purchase land for a corn milling plant 12 miles away from an U.S. Air Force base in 2023 led to nationwide attention to investors from foreign adversarial nations purchasing land near military sites. From 2016 to 2021, foreign purchases of U.S. agricultural land has increased by 40%, according to the Department of Agriculture. Investors from Canada, The Netherlands, Italy and The United Kingdom owned the most U.S. agricultural land of any foreign country. Investors outside of the United States owned about 3.5% of agricultural land in December 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture. Investors from adversarial nations owned less than 1% of this foreign-held land. "Foreign adversary" nations own a small percentage of agricultural land, with investors from North Korea owning no acres and from Russia owning 11 acres as of December 2023. Investors from China owned 277,336 acres of agricultural land, according to a Department of Agriculture report. Vincent Smith, professor emeritus at Montana State University and the director of the Agricultural Policy Program at the American Enterprise Institute, noted that the annual rate of return on investments in agricultural land runs at roughly 6%. "It has to do with worries about spying, intellectual property theft, and so on," Smith said. Whether Chinese institutions should be able to access properties adjacent to military bases and American security assets is a point of "legitimate debate," he said. Smith said the potential risks from foreign countries acquiring this agricultural land include using the land for espionage as well as stealing intellectual property by monitoring farming techniques. Iran-based investors owned 3,030 acres of U.S. agricultural land as of December 2023, according to the Department of Agriculture. Majid Sadeghpour is the political director of the Organization of Iranian American Communities, a nonprofit that advocates for human rights and democracy in Iran and strongly opposes Iran's current government. Sadeghpour's group, which opposes "an appeasement policy towards Iran," according to their website, was in favor of the bill, and its restriction on Iranian companies. "We welcome U.S. government vigilance and measures which ensure individuals / organizations associated with the regime and its (Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps) do not financially benefit from investments in the United States," he said in an email to The Sun. Food supply concerns The bill's co-author also alleges that these countries pose a threat to the U.S. food supply chain. In a statement to The Sun, Alsobrooks said that an insecure food supply chain represents a significant threat to the nation, adding that the bill would support Maryland's agricultural communities while protecting the country's food security. The Maryland Grain Producers Association backed the bill for just this reason, its executive director said. Lindsay Thompson, the association's executive director, said the group is concerned that if unchecked, purchases of farmland by corporations headquartered in these countries could undermine the U.S. food supply by taking land from U.S. farmers, as well as stealing crop production techniques. She added that it could lead to financial hardships, cutting the food supply short. "The secretary of USDA uniquely understands the entire agricultural system and the vulnerabilities that our farmers and agricultural companies could be subject to in these types of transactions," Thompson said. Welsh, however, said there is not significant evidence that the small percentage of foreign-held agricultural land could impact the nation's food supply. She said, however, she believes foreign purchases of agricultural land should be monitored on the federal level. "I think that pulls on a lot of emotions, but … I don't think that there is a strong basis of evidence for the claim that China's ownership of U.S. farmland threatens U.S. food security," Welsh said. _____ Copyright (C) 2025, Tribune Content Agency, LLC. Portions copyrighted by the respective providers.
Eater
2 hours ago
- Eater
Famed Filipino Food Cart Baon Kainan Is Transforming Into a Restaurant
is a freelance food and drink writer in Portland, Oregon. She's worked in food media since 2018, with a particular focus on small businesses that have been largely left out of mainstream media. When Ethan and Geri Leung moved from Seattle to Portland to open Baon Kainan in 2021, their Filipino food cart was an instant success. It earned Eater Portland's Best New Cart Award that year thanks to its playful comfort food dishes like kare kare fries. Now, after four years and a few location moves, the Leungs will close the food cart on July 25 and open a restaurant on September 3 at the Lovely Rita space in The Hoxton hotel in Old Town. This will be a six-month residency for now, with the possibility of extension. Along with the move, Baon Kainan, whose name refers to food packed for a trip or for school or work, is getting a new concept and a new name: Pamana, which means legacy in Tagalog. 'Pamana always stuck, because at the end of the day, what we do is for our family and what we learned from them, and that's how we keep a lot of our stories and our culture alive,' says Geri. 'And I think that's what we were doing at Baon — and now we get to do it on a more expanded level.' Geri draws inspiration from her family's tattered green binder, which includes recipes from her adoptive dad's mother who lived in South Carolina and her mother's first forays into cooking so-called American food. She also takes ideas from her childhood growing up in a military family in Italy. Ethan, meanwhile, will draw from his mother's recipe journals and his mixed Filipino-Chinese heritage. Pamana will initially be open for brunch only. Some dishes will be revamped from Baon Kainan's existing brunch menu, like bistek and eggs. Rather than the braised beef served on the cart and packed into paper boxes, they'll cook whole steaks to temperature — an homage to one of Ethan's favorite dishes that his mom would make for him. Other dishes draw from memories of cooking together as a family. The tortang talong, or eggplant omelet, is an unconventional take on the classic dish, served extra-crispy in a twist that Ethan's mom and Geri devised together one day in the kitchen. The cart's popular chewy ube bibingka dessert will be revamped into pancakes, offering that same bouncy texture in pancake form accompanied by a drizzle of creme anglaise. One of the couple's favorite childhood snacks, turon — hot, crispy banana lumpia — is the inspiration for French toast topped with saba bananas and jackfruit. Molly J. Smith Baon Kainan was known for its collaborative spirit, working with other food carts and hosting a Filipino-inspired breakfast sandwich pop-up, Balong, which has since opened its own brick-and-mortar shop. Pamana will keep its collaborative culture going by serving Balong's pan de sal with garlic butter or coffee butter. They'll also use Balong's pan de sal for breakfast sandwiches stuffed with longanisa, and make pan de sal fried chicken sandwiches with gravy for dipping — a tribute to Filipino fast food chain Jollibee, which holds a particularly special place in Geri's heart. 'Jollibee has been a way for me to connect with my family in the Philippines, because I actually didn't get to meet my Filipino side until I was in my mid-20s,' says Geri. 'But the one thing that me and my cousins and my godsons and my goddaughters could actually connect on was we both love Jollibee.' Lovely Rita will continue to operate its coffee program to accompany Pamana's food. Brunch will be dine-in only to start, served on the hotel's main floor — but eventually, food will be available for take-out and even room service. After settling into brunch service, the restaurant will eventually begin offering dinner, likely in the fall. The Leungs are quiet about dinner menu details for now, but word is that the cart's pancit will make a return. In the meantime, the Leungs are excited to build community in their Old Town location. 'We have our friends at Deadstock Coffee, Goodies Snack Shop, Barnes and Morgan, all doing amazing things — we want to be in a place where we can uplift each other, too,' says Ethan. With Pamana, they'll be adding a new brick-and-mortar to the city's Filipino food scene, which has seen massive growth this year. 'We're taking up space in the Hoxton, Sunrice is opening their spot on Williams, Balong opened up in Fubonn, we got a Jollibee out in Hillsboro,' says Ethan. 'It's really cool to see — and I think there's going to be more,' says Geri. Molly J. Smith / EPDX
USA Today
2 hours ago
- USA Today
US stocks end mixed as GM shares tumble and S&P 500 reaches record high
Wall Street shares ended mixed on July 22, with steep losses in General Motors and a gain in Tesla as investors focused on recent and upcoming quarterly reports and watched for signs of progress in U.S. trade discussions. GM tumbled after the automaker reported a $1 billion hit from tariffs to its quarterly results, adding more fuel to investor concerns about U.S. President Donald Trump's global trade policy. Shares of Ford Motor also fell. Tesla climbed a day before its quarterly report, while Alphabet also reporting on Wednesday, also rose. Optimism about heavy spending on artificial intelligence has underpinned a rally in Wall Street's most valuable companies, with the S&P 500 trading around record highs. "The market is consolidating recent gains and is in a bit of a holding pattern with some huge catalysts over the next week or two, including the August 1 tariff deadline and a lot of important Magnificent Seven earnings," said Ross Mayfield, an investment strategy analyst at Baird. Other Big Tech stocks lost ground, with Meta Platforms and Microsoft both closing lower. Shares of RTX dropped after the aerospace and defense giant t from Trump's trade war despite strong demand for its engines and aftermarket services. Lockheed Martin tumbled after its quarterly profit plunged by about 80%. U.S. trade policy remains a major point of uncertainty for investors and companies as Trump's self-imposed August 1 deadline for many countries to reach agreements with the White House approaches. U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said he would meet his Chinese counterpart next week to discuss an extension to the August 12 deadline set for tariffs on imports from China. Other trade negotiations appeared stalled, with optimism for a breakthrough deal with India waning and EU officials weighing countermeasures against the United States. According to preliminary data, the S&P 500 gained 4.30 points, or 0.07%, to end at 6,309.90 points, while the Nasdaq Composite lost 81.24 points, or 0.39%, to 20,892.93. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 175.77 points, or 0.40%, to 44,498.84. Philip Morris slumped after reporting second-quarter revenue below expectations, as shipments of its ZYN nicotine pouches disappointed investors. Analysts on average expected S&P 500 companies to report a 7% increase in earnings for the second quarter, with technology heavyweights driving much of that gain, according to LSEG I/B/E/S. After last week's mixed economic data, traders have all but ruled out an interest-rate cut from the U.S. Federal Reserve at next week's policy meeting. They now see about a 60% chance of a reduction in September, according to the CME's FedWatch tool.
