Good news! At this speed, we soon have more different weight-loss drugs than obese people or a different weight loss medication for each obese individual! Just kidding.
How obese are the Chinese people compared to Western people?
"Ecnoglutide — a weight-loss drug that works in a similar way to the blockbuster medication Ozempic — has outperformed a placebo in helping people to lose weight. People taking ecnoglutide lost up to 13.8 kilograms over 48 weeks, whereas people taking a placebo only lost around 200 grams.
The drug is one of a growing number of next-generation obesity drugs being developed and tested in China. These include UBT251, a so-called ‘triple agonist’ that mimics the same appetite-suppressing hormone as ecnoglutide, as well as two others involved in fat metabolism and blood-sugar regulation."
"... 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 ...
Dozens of GLP-1 drugs are being developed and tested in China, with “many more to come”, ...
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. ..."
From the abstract:
"Background
Ecnoglutide is a novel cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP)-biased GLP-1 receptor agonist currently in development for weight management. We aimed to assess the efficacy and safety of once weekly ecnoglutide versus placebo for the treatment of overweight or obesity in Chinese adults.
Methods
This randomised, double-blind, placebo-controlled, phase 3 trial was done at 36 medical centres across China.
Eligible adults were aged 18–75 years with overweight or obesity (defined as BMI ≥28 kg/m2 or ≥24 kg/m2 with at least one weight-related comorbidity [prediabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease, obstructive sleep apnoea syndrome, or weight-bearing joint pain]), without diabetes (type 1 or 2).
Participants were randomly assigned (3:3:3:1:1:1) via computer-generated random sequencing to receive subcutaneous ecnoglutide (1·2, 1·8, or 2·4 mg) or volume-matched placebo (1·2, 1·8, or 2·4 mg), once weekly, stratified by BMI at screening (≥28 kg/m2 and <28 kg/m2).
The coprimary endpoints were percentage change in bodyweight and proportion of participants with a reduction in bodyweight of 5% or more at week 40 (using the treatment policy estimand in the full analysis set). The full analysis set included all randomly assigned participants who were exposed to at least one dose of study drug or placebo according to their assigned treatment group. Safety was assessed in all participants who received at least one dose and had a safety assessment after medication. This study was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov, NCT05813795, and is complete.
Findings
Between April 5, 2023, and June 20, 2024, 882 participants were screened and 664 were randomly assigned to receive ecnoglutide 1·2 mg (n=166), ecnoglutide 1·8 mg (n=166), ecnoglutide 2·4 mg (n=167), or placebo (n=165).
At week 40, the least-squares mean percentage change in body weight was –9·1% (SE 0·8) in the ecnoglutide 1·2 mg group, –10·9% (0·9) in the ecnoglutide 1·8 mg group, and –13·2% (0·8) in the ecnoglutide 2·4 mg group versus 0·1% (0·8) in the placebo group, and the respective estimated treatment differences compared with placebo were –9·2% (97% CI –11·0 to –7·5), –11·1% (–13·1 to –9·1), and –13·3% (–15·3 to –11·3), respectively (all p<0·0001).
The proportion of participants who achieved at least a 5% reduction in body weight at week 40 was
77% in the ecnoglutide 1·2 mg group,
84% in the ecnoglutide 1·8 mg group, and
87% in the ecnoglutide 2·4 mg group versus 16% of participants in the placebo group, and the respective estimated treatment differences versus placebo were 60% (98% CI 50 to 71), 68% (58 to 78), and 70% (61 to 80; all p<0·0001).
Treatment-emergent adverse events were observed in 155 (93%) of 166 participants in the ecnoglutide 1·2 mg group, 154 (93%) of 166 participants in the ecnoglutide 1·8 mg group, 156 (93%) of 167 participants in the ecnoglutide 2·4 mg group, and 139 (84%) of 165 participants in the placebo group.
The most common adverse events were mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal related events. Ten participants treated with ecnoglutide discontinued treatment due to adverse events.
Interpretation
In adults with obesity or overweight without diabetes (type 1 or 2), individuals administered ecnoglutide had superior and sustained reduction in body weight versus placebo with a favourable safety profile, supporting its potential use for weight management."
Nature Briefing: Translational Research
