New Chinese drug that's injected once a week boasts average weight loss of 14 kilos in 48 weeks

Clinical trials for a new Chinese weight-loss drug found that people injected once a week lost an average of 13.8 kilos in 48 weeks of treatment. The drug was developed at Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences in China and, if approved by health regulators, would be the new competitor in Spain to the popular Wegovy (Ozempic) or Mounjaro, from the Novo and Lilly companies, respectively.

Published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology, the study compared the sample to a group that was receiving placebo. The latter only lost 200 grams over the same period. The randomised and double-blinded study was financed by the pharmaceutical industry and conducted at 36 medical centres in China between April 2023 and June 2024. Participants were between 18 and 75 years of age and overweight or obese, with at least one comorbidity: pre-diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidaemia, liver disease, sleep apnoea or joint pain, but no diabetes.

The sample of 664 people was divided into four. The active substance was administered in amounts of 1.2mg, 1.8mg and 2.4mg. At week 40, the first group lost an average of 9.1% of their body weight; the second group lost 10.9%; and the third group lost an average of 13.2%. Those on placebo lost only 0.1%. "The proportion of participants who achieved at least a 5% reduction in body weight at week 40 was 77% in the ecnoglutide 1.2mg group, 84% in the ecnoglutide 1.8mg group and 87% in the ecnoglutide 2.4mg group," said the authors, led by Linong Ji - a researcher at Peking University People's Hospital. However, "adverse effects were observed". The most frequent were "mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues" and ten participants discontinued treatment.

If Western weight-loss and diabetes control drugs using semaglutide as an active ingredient have dominated the market so far, the new generation from China, based on ecnoglutide, has started to demonstrate significant results. Like Ozempic, ecnoglutide is a glucagon peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist analogue, the function of which is to regulate appetite and blood glucose levels.

This new drug is also administered once a week by injection. It is expected to be licensed by the Chinese government by 2026 and possibly manufactured by other companies outside the country. According to the authors of the study, another advantage was that participants maintained their new weight seven weeks after finishing the treatment.