Could China’s New Ozempic-like Drugs Beat Out Current Weight-Loss Medications?
A drug that surpasses the placebo to help people lose weight is one of an increasing number of new generation obesity drugs produced in China.
At first, Chinese pharmaceutical companies rushed to make similar versions of successful weight loss drugs, such as Wegovy and Ozempic, which stormed the world. Nowadays, China is becoming an important innovator for the discovery of new drugs in this area, explains Daniel Drucker, endocrinologist at the University of Toronto in Canada.
The results of a phase III test on ECNOGLUTIDE show that people receiving a weekly drug injection lost up to 13.8 kilograms over 48 weeks of treatment. On the other hand, people carried out by placebo injections have lost about 200 grams. The results were published in Lancet diabetes and endocrinology June 21.
On the support of scientific journalism
If you appreciate this article, plan to support our award -winning journalism by subscription. By buying a subscription, you help to ensure the future of striking stories about discoveries and ideas that shape our world today.
Ecnoglutide is a Peptide-1 receptor (GLP-1) of glucagon type (GLP-1), similar to the semaglutide of successful obesity. These drugs imitate the GLP-1 hormone, which is involved in the regulation of appetite and the management of blood rates. Unlike semaglutide, ECNOGLUTIDE preferentially targets the production of cyclic monophosphate adenosine, a messenger molecule associated with the regulation of glycogen, sugar and lipid metabolism, which helps control blood sugar, as well as weight loss.
The study, funded by the drug manufacturer, Sciwind BioSciences, based in Hangzhou, in China, included 664 people who had a weekly injection of a placebo, one of the three doses of Ecnoglutide. At a maximum dose of 2.4 milligrams, 92.8% of people lost at least 5% of their body weight, compared to 14% of people receiving placebo injections. People receiving Écnoglutide were also able to maintain their reduced weight after stopping treatment, finding approximately 1% of their body weight over a period of 7 weeks.
Linong Ji, co-author and diabetes researcher at the Popular Hospital of the University of Beijing in Beijing, says that the Ecnoglutide has also improved risk factors for heart disease and diabetes, and has reduced the amount of fat in people’s livers.
More to come to come
Dozens of GLP-1 drugs are developed and tested in China, “many others to come”, explains Drucker.
Among them is Mazdutide, which imitates GLP-1 and Glucagon, a hormone involved in blood levels. In the results of the tests published in May, a weekly injection helped more people to lose up to 15% of their body weight over 36 weeks and reduces the risk of cardiovascular diseases compared to placebo treatment.
Developed by Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, Mazdutide is manufactured by innovative biologicals in Suzhou, China, under an exclusive license. Other trials test if the drug can treat sleep apnea or type 2 diabetes.
The growing number of new GLP-1 drugs target several ways at the same time, which will cause more suitable treatments, explains 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 apnea, liver disease, chronic kidney disease and heart disease, he adds. “This will give us options and it will make drugs personalized in obesity and diabetes more accessible.”
Triple threat
Another drug developed in China, known as UBT251, is a triple agonist, imitating GLP-1, glucagon and another hormone called gastric inhibitory polypeptide (GIP), which is involved in fat metabolism. The UBT251 is the first drug GLP-1 injectable bihebdomedary and is in the early stages of weight loss tests and treating chronic kidney disease, fatty liver disease and type 2 diabetes. In March, the manufacturer based in Hengqin, the United Laboratories, concluded an agreement of 2 billion US dollars with the Danish company Novo Nordisk, which has developed semaglutide, offering Novo Nordisk exclusive rights to test and sell drugs outside the Chinese continent, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan.
Bofanglutide, developed by Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals in Beijing, is another injectable bihebdomedary treatment, but it only targets GLP-1. A phase II test began to register American participants in obesity in March to test it against a placebo and a shooting – sold like Mounjaro and Zepbound by Eli Lilly.
Andrikopoulos says it is logical that China develops these drugs. “Obesity and diabetes are major problems in Asian populations in China and India,” he said. Studies that recruit participants in China are also important to study the effectiveness of GLP-1 drugs in Asian populations, which could reveal unclear differences in studies in Europe or the United States.
A pharmaceutical company based in Hong Kong, Asletis, also studies the benefit of oral medication once a day, called ASC30, for weight loss. The results of early trials show that participants lost 6% more than their body weight on the drug than with a placebo. The company requested authorization from the US Food and Drug Administration to organize a phase II test. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly also work on GLP-1 oral drugs.
This article is reproduced with permission and was first publication June 30, 2025.
