Could China's New GLP-1 Drugs Beat Out Ozempic?
At first, Chinese pharmaceutical companies rushed to make similar versions of blockbuster weight-loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, that have taken the world by storm. Nowadays, China is emerging as important innovator for new drug discovery in this field, says Daniel Drucker, an endocrinologist at the University of Toronto in Canada.
Results from a phase III trial of ecnoglutide show that people receiving a weekly injection of the drug lost up to 13.8 kilograms over 48 weeks of treatment. By contrast, people given placebo injections lost around 200 grams. The results were published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology on 21 June.
On supporting science journalism
If you're enjoying this article, consider supporting our award-winning journalism by subscribing. By purchasing a subscription you are helping to ensure the future of impactful stories about the discoveries and ideas shaping our world today.
Ecnoglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist analogue, similar to the blockbuster obesity drug semaglutide. These drugs mimic the hormone GLP-1, which is involved in regulating appetite and managing blood-sugar levels. Unlike semaglutide, ecnoglutide preferentially targets the production of cyclic adenosine monophosphate, a messenger molecule associated with regulating glycogen, sugar and lipid metabolism, which helps to control blood-sugar levels, as well as weight loss.
The study, funded by drug manufacturer Sciwind Biosciences, based in Hangzhou, China, included 664 people given either a weekly injection of a placebo, or one of three doses of ecnoglutide. At the maximum dose of 2.4 milligrams, 92.8% of people lost at least 5% of their body weight, compared with 14% of people receiving placebo injections. People receiving ecnoglutide were also able to maintain their reduced weight after stopping treatment, regaining around 1% of their body weight over a 7-week period.
Linong Ji, a co-author and a diabetes researcher at Peking University People's Hospital in Beijing, says ecnoglutide also improved risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, and reduced the amount of fat in people's livers.
More drugs to come
Dozens of GLP-1 drugs are being developed and tested in China, with 'many more to come', says Drucker.
Among them is mazdutide, which mimics GLP-1 and glucagon, a hormone involved in blood-sugar levels. In trial results published in May, a weekly injection helped more people to lose up to 15% of their body weight over 36 weeks and reduced the risk of cardiovascular diseases compared with a placebo treatment.
Developed by Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, mazdutide is manufactured by Innovent Biologics in Suzhou, China, under an exclusive licence. Other trials are testing whether the drug can treat sleep apnoea or type 2 diabetes.
The growing number of new GLP-1 drugs target multiple pathways at the same time so will result in more-tailored treatments, says Sof Andrikopoulos, a diabetes researcher at the University of Melbourne. The next generation of drugs will target specific conditions associated with diabetes and obesity, such as sleep apnoea, fatty liver disease, chronic kidney disease and heart disease, he adds. 'It'll give us options and it will make personalized medicine in obesity and diabetes more accessible.'
Triple threat
Another drug being developed in China, known as UBT251, is a triple agonist, mimicking GLP-1, glucagon and another hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), which is involved in fat metabolism. UBT251 is the first biweekly injectable GLP-1 medicine and is in the early stages of testing to achieve weight loss and treat chronic kidney disease, fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. In March, Hengqin-based manufacturer the United Laboratories entered into a US$2-billion deal with Danish firm Novo Nordisk, which developed semaglutide, giving Novo Nordisk exclusive rights to test and sell the drug outside the Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Bofanglutide, developed by Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals in Beijing, is another biweekly injectable treatment, but it targets only GLP-1. A phase II trial began enrolling US participants with obesity in March to test it against a placebo and tirzepatide — sold as Mounjaro and Zepbound by Eli Lilly.
Andrikopoulos says it makes sense that China is developing these drugs. 'Obesity and diabetes are major problems in Asian populations in China and in India,' he says. Studies that recruit participants in China are also important for investigating the efficacy of GLP-1 drugs in Asian populations, which could reveal differences not observed in studies from Europe or the United States.
A Hong Kong-based pharmaceutical company, Ascletis, is also investigating the benefit of once-daily oral drug, called ASC30, for weight loss. Early trial results show that participants lost 6% more of their body weight on the drug than with a placebo. The company has applied for permission from the US Food and Drug Administration to run a phase II trial. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also working on oral GLP-1 medicines.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Tests Show Eli Lilly's (LLY) Weight-Loss Pill Works as Well as Injection
Preliminary test results show that Eli Lilly's (LLY) daily weight-loss pill, called Orforglipron, is as effective as the company's injectable GLP-1 drug Zepbound. Don't Miss TipRanks' Half-Year Sale Take advantage of TipRanks Premium at 50% off! Unlock powerful investing tools, advanced data, and expert analyst insights to help you invest with confidence. Make smarter investment decisions with TipRanks' Smart Investor Picks, delivered to your inbox every week. The weight-loss pill from Eli Lilly is also equally good at lowering blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, according to new data from a Phase 3 clinical trial. The results were announced at the annual meeting of the American Diabetes Association and the findings published in the prestigious New England Journal of Medicine. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly currently makes the blockbuster drug Mounjaro for Type 2 diabetes and Zepbound for weight management. Like rival Novo Nordisk's (NVO) Ozempic and Wegovy, both of Eli Lilly's drugs are injected by people on a weekly basis. However, a weight-loss pill is widely viewed as a potential gamechanger given many people's fear of needles and difficulty injecting themselves. Race for the Pill Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and other pharmaceutical companies are racing to bring a weight-loss pill to market. Eli Lilly's Orforglipron pill is currently in late stage clinical trials and could be approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2026, though an exact date is not yet known. So far, preliminary data on Eli Lilly's pill to help manage obesity is showing promising results. 'What we see is that the efficacy, safety, and tolerability are really consistent with the very best injectable (medications),' said Kenneth Custer, President of Cariometabolic Health at Eli Lilly, in a news release concerning the company's experimental pill. 'We think this is a big deal.' Is LLY Stock a Buy? The stock of Eli Lilly has a consensus Strong Buy recommendation among 19 Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on 16 Buy, two Hold, and one Sell recommendations issued in the last 12 months. The average LLY price target of $999.57 implies 28.83% upside from current levels.
Business Insider
3 hours ago
- Business Insider
Novo Nordisk, WeightWatchers expand collaboration
WW International (WGHTH) 'announced an expanded collaboration with Novo Nordisk (NVO), which includes increased access to authentic, FDA-approved Wegovy injection through WeightWatchers (WGHTQ) Clinic. As the only holistic platform focused on long-term weight health featuring the No. 1 doctor-recommended weight loss program included in the recently announced collaboration with Novo Nordisk, WeightWatchers continues to reinforce its role as the trusted leader in sustainable, science-backed weight care, and one of the few in the industry to publicly commit to prescribing only FDA-approved medications. As part of the collaboration, WeightWatchers Clinic members will benefit from a simplified prescription process via NovoCare Pharmacy. CenterWell Pharmacy, a seven-time MMIT Specialty Pharmacy Patient Choice Award winner for best-in-class customer satisfaction and commitment to patient care, serves as the dispensing pharmacy for the NovoCare program and will facilitate direct fulfillment and home delivery of Wegovy prescriptions for WeightWatchers Clinic members. In addition, WeightWatchers will enhance the member experience by providing integrated account access, bundled pricing opportunities, inventory visibility, and shipment tracking. Additionally, Novo Nordisk is offering a limited-time savings offer available to WeightWatchers Clinic members. Starting July 1, 2025, eligible cash-pay members can access Wegovy at a reduced price of $299 until July 31, 2025-a significant savings aimed at expanding access to clinically validated, FDA-regulated treatment options.'
National Geographic
10 hours ago
- National Geographic
What we lose when animals go extinct
Animals are disappearing at hundreds of times the normal rate, primarily because of shrinking habitats. Their biggest threat: humans. No trace of the wild South China tiger, Panthera tigris amoyensis (critically endangered, possibly extinct in the wild), has been seen for more than a decade. Zoos hold fewer than 200 in breeding programs. If a Chinese plan to return some to the wild fails, they could become the fourth subspecies of tiger to go extinct. Suzhou South China Tiger Breeding Base Photographs by Joel Sartore This story appears in the October 2019 issue of National Geographic magazine. Most of the animals shown here are among the more than 28,000 species of animals and plants that the International Union for Conservation of Nature says are threatened with extinction. That number actually understates the risk. Since 1964, when the IUCN established a 'red list' of threatened species and began compiling data gathered worldwide, the list has become the preeminent global database of endangered life and an essential tool for conservation policy. Yet the IUCN has been able to assess only about 106,000 species of the more than 1.5 million species of animals and more than 300,000 plants that scientists have described and named—which they estimate is less than a quarter of what's really out there. A recent intergovernmental report on the biodiversity crisis estimated that extinction threatens up to a million animal and plant species, known and unknown. The IUCN hopes to raise the number of species assessments to 160,000 by 2020. Next up on its agenda: a 'green list' of conservation successes. It will be much shorter than the red one. The large yellow-footed tortoise, Chelonoidis denticulata (vulnerable), from South America and the Caribbean, is hunted for its meat, which is considered a delicacy. It also is captured and traded as a pet. Kansas City Zoo, Missouri Habitat loss—driven primarily by human expansion as we develop land for housing, agriculture, and commerce—is the biggest threat facing most animal species, followed by hunting and fishing. Even when habitat is not lost entirely, it may be changed so much that animals cannot adapt. Fences fragment a grassland or logging cuts through a forest, breaking up migration corridors; pollution renders a river toxic; pesticides kill widely and indiscriminately. To those local threats one must increasingly add global ones: Trade, which spreads disease and invasive species from place to place, and climate change, which eventually will affect every species on Earth—starting with the animals that live on cool mountaintops or depend on polar ice. All of these threats lead, directly or indirectly, back to humans and our expanding footprint. Most species face multiple threats. Some can adapt to us; others will vanish. Humphead wrasse, Cheilinus undulatus (endangered) Arctic fox, Vulpes lagopus (least concern) Great Bend–Brit Spaugh Zoo, Kansas Lesser flamingo, Phoeniconaias minor (near threatened) Red panda, Ailurus fulgens fulgens (endangered) Virginia Zoo - Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark If we lived in an ordinary time—time here being understood in the long, unhurried sense of a geologic epoch—it would be nearly impossible to watch a species vanish. Such an event would occur too infrequently for a person to witness. In the case of mammals, the best-studied group of animals, the fossil record indicates that the 'background' rate of extinction, the one that prevailed before humans entered the picture, is so low that over the course of a millennium, a single species should disappear. But of course we don't live in an ordinary time. Everywhere we look, species are winking out. Just in the past decade, two mammal species have gone extinct: a bat known as the Christmas Island pipistrelle and a rat, the Bramble Cay melomys. The International Union for Conservation of Nature lists more than 200 mammal species and subspecies as critically endangered. In some cases, like the Sumatran rhino or the vaquita—a porpoise native to the Gulf of California—there are fewer than a hundred individuals left. In others, like the baiji (also known as the Yangtze River dolphin), the species, though not yet officially declared extinct, has probably died out. Bachman's warbler, Vermivora bachmanii (critically endangered, possibly extinct) One of the United States' smallest native warblers, it may already be extinct because of severe habitat loss from development in the southeastern U.S. and its Cuban wintering grounds. The last time a live sighting was reported was in 1988. Tall Timbers Research Station And Land Conservancy, Florida And unfortunately, what goes for mammals goes for just about every other animal group: reptiles, amphibians, fish, even insects. Extinction rates today are hundreds—perhaps thousands—of times higher than the background rate. They're so high that scientists say we're on the brink of a mass extinction. The last mass extinction, which did in the dinosaurs some 66 million years ago, followed an asteroid impact. Today the cause of extinction seems more diffuse. It's logging and poaching and introduced pathogens and climate change and overfishing and ocean acidification. But trace all these back and you find yourself face-to-face with the same culprit. The great naturalist E.O. Wilson has noted that humans are the 'first species in the history of life to become a geophysical force.' Many scientists argue that we have entered a new geologic epoch—the Anthropocene, or age of man. This time around, in other words, the asteroid is us. Gray woolly monkey, Lagothrix cana (endangered) This young, malnourished woolly monkey from Brazil was raised as a pet. When she was captured, her mother likely was killed. Environmental police rescued her, and she's been treated, but she'll need to live in captivity the rest of her life. What's lost when an animal goes extinct? One way to think of a species, be it of ape or of ant, is as an answer to a puzzle: how to live on planet Earth. A species' genome is a sort of manual; when the species perishes, that manual is lost. We are, in this sense, plundering a library—the library of life. Instead of the Anthropocene, Wilson has dubbed the era we are entering the Eremozoic—the age of loneliness. Joel Sartore has been photographing animals for his Photo Ark project for 13 years. In an ever growing number of cases, animals housed in zoos or special breeding facilities are among the last remaining members of their species. In some instances, they are the only members. Toughie, a Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog from central Panama, lived at the Atlanta Botanical Garden. He became the last known of his kind when a fungal disease swept through his native habitat and a captive-breeding program failed. Toughie died in 2016, and it's likely the Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog is now extinct. Romeo, a Sehuencas water frog that lives at the natural history museum in Cochabamba, Bolivia, was likewise believed to be a sole survivor. Scientists created an online dating profile for him. It linked to a donation page, and the $25,000 raised helped fund expeditions in the eastern Andes, where the species was once abundant. Amazingly, the search has revealed five more Sehuencas water frogs, two males and three females. All were taken to Cochabamba; the one female mature enough to breed with Romeo was named Juliet. Whether she will prove a worthy mate and perpetuate the species, no one knows. Was the Rabbs' fringe-limbed tree frog beautiful? Not in the flashy way of, say, the Spix's macaw (which is believed to be extinct in the wild) or the Gee's golden langur (which is endangered). But with its expressive brown eyes and gangly limbs, it had its own kind of charm. Niho tree snail, Partula nodosa (extinct in the wild) Sartore treats all creatures—great and small, handsome and homely—with reverence. His photos capture what's singular and, I'd also like to say, soulful about every living thing. One of my favorite images of Joel's is of a Partula nodosa, or niho tree snail, laying down a trail of slime. There used to be dozens of Partula species in the South Pacific, occupying different islands and different ecological niches. Much like Darwin's finches, they are the darlings of evolutionary biologists—living, slime-producing illustrations of the power of natural selection. The introduction of carnivorous snails from Florida drove nearly a third of the Partula species extinct; several survive solely thanks to captive-breeding programs. Precisely because extinction takes place so frequently now, it's possible to become inured to it. This desensitizing is what makes Sartore's images so crucial: They show us just how remarkable each species is that's being lost. We live in an extraordinary time. Perhaps by recognizing this, we can begin to imagine creating a different one—one that preserves, as much as is still possible, the wonderful diversity of life. Since the 1980s, a fungal disease called chytridiomycosis, likely spread through direct contact and by infected water, has ravaged global amphibian populations. More than 500 species have been affected; 90 of these may be extinct. The fungus disrupts transmission of electrolytes through the skin of a frog or toad, ultimately stopping its heart. Sehuencas water frog, Telmatobius yuracare (vulnerable) For 10 years this frog, called Romeo, was thought to be the last of his kind. But on a 2018 expedition in Bolivia, scientists captured five more—including three potential mates. Kayra Center, Alcide D'orbigny Natural History Museum, Bolivia - Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark Kagu, Rhynochetos jubatus (endangered) Like many island species, the nearly flightless kagu, native to the French Pacific territory of New Caledonia, was seriously affected by the arrival in the late 1700s of European settlers and their animals. Roughly chicken size, the kagu continues to fall prey to non-native pigs, cats, and dogs. The birds nest on the ground, and rats eat their eggs. Recent population estimates suggest fewer than a thousand kagu survive. Scientists nevertheless have some hope for the future: Decades of successful captive breeding have resulted in the reintroduction of the birds to the wild, and predator control has allowed some populations to rebound. Mhorr gazelle, Nanger dama mhorr (critically endangered) This subspecies of the dama gazelle was once widespread across the western Sahara. Now there are fewer than 300 damas combined in Mali, Chad, and Niger. Their range is broken up by grazing lands for livestock, and they're at risk from hunting. Reintroduction of captive-bred animals has had mixed success. Butterflies can fly long distances and feed on many types of flowers, but caterpillars are locavores, eating plants they hatch on or near. As those plants are lost to development or farming, butterflies disappear. The ones here aren't listed by the IUCN—which has evaluated only 8,100 insect species—but are considered at risk by other authorities. Atossa fritillary, Speyeria adiaste atossa (not evaluated) This California butterfly lost habitat to grazing and drought and is considered to be extinct. The last live one was seen in the wild in 1960. Mcguire Center For Lepidoptera And Biodiversity, Florida Museum Of Natural History - Photograph by Joel Sartore, National Geographic Photo Ark Asian elephant, Elephas maximus (endangered) Early in the 20th century, perhaps 100,000 elephants roamed across Asia. Since then, their population likely has been cut in half. They're killed not just for their ivory tusks but also for their meat and hides—and sometimes in retaliation for the damage they do to crops. For tree-dwelling lemurs, there's no life without the forest—or Madagascar, their only home. Yet the island nation has lost 80 percent of its trees to development, charcoal production, and slash-and-burn agriculture. Lemurs are squeezed into limited protected areas; 38 species are critically endangered. Fuel-efficient stoves are being introduced to encourage people to reduce wood use and protect forest habitat. Diademed sifaka, Propithecus diadema (critically endangered) Females may only be fertile one day a year, limiting this lemur's ability to rebuild fragmented populations. Aye-aye, Daubentonia madagascariensis (endangered) Though rare, this lemur—the world's largest nocturnal primate, at around six pounds—is still found across the island. But local lore holds that aye-ayes are bad luck, and they're often killed on sight. Brown lemur, Eulemur fulvus (near threatened) Brown lemur populations have dropped by a quarter since 1995 and are expected to keep shrinking thanks to deforestation and hunting. Omaha's Henry Doorly Zoo and Aquarium, Nebraska Elizabeth Kolbert's most recent book, The Sixth Extinction, won the Pulitzer Prize. Photographer Joel Sartore has been called a modern-day Noah for building the Photo Ark, the world's largest collection of animal studio portraits. Photo Ark is a joint project of National Geographic and Joel Sartore. Learn more at
