Key points
- Ecnoglutide is part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists
- It acts by focusing on a molecule that controls sugar and fat metabolism
- Participants receiving weekly injections of the drug lost up to 13.8 kgs over 48 weeks
ISLAMABAD: A new obesity drug developed in China has shown promising results in helping people lose weight.
The development is highlighting the country’s growing role in obesity treatment innovation.
The drug, called ecnoglutide, was tested in a Phase III clinical trial and outperformed a placebo by a wide margin. Participants who received weekly injections of the drug lost up to 13.8 kilogrammes over 48 weeks, while those who received a placebo lost only around 200 grams.
The findings were published in The Lancet Diabetes and Endocrinology journal on June 21.
GLP-1 receptor agonists
According to Nature, ecnoglutide is part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists, which mimic a hormone that helps regulate appetite and blood sugar.
Although it works similarly to well-known drugs like semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy), ecnoglutide acts slightly differently by focusing on a molecule that controls sugar and fat metabolism.
Trial
The trial involved 664 participants, who were given either a placebo or one of three doses of the drug. At the highest dose, 92.8 per cent of participants lost at least 5 per cent of their body weight, compared with only 14 per cent of those given a placebo. Even after stopping treatment, people who took ecnoglutide kept most of the weight off, regaining just about 1 per cent of their body weight over seven weeks.
According to Linong Ji, a researcher at Peking University People’s Hospital and co-author of the study, the drug also helped reduce liver fat and improved risk factors for heart disease and diabetes.
The study was funded by Sciwind Biosciences, a pharmaceutical company based in Hangzhou, China.
Mazdutide
Another such drug is mazdutide, a treatment developed by Eli Lilly and manufactured in China by Innovent Biologics. It mimics both GLP-1 and glucagon, another hormone involved in blood sugar regulation. In a recent study, mazdutide helped people lose up to 15 per cent of their body weight over 36 weeks and also reduced cardiovascular risks.
Researchers are now testing mazdutide for other conditions linked to obesity, such as sleep apnea and type 2 diabetes.
Sof Andrikopoulos, a diabetes expert at the University of Melbourne, says newer drugs like these are being designed to target multiple health issues at once.
This could lead to more personalised treatments for people with obesity and related conditions like heart disease, fatty liver disease, and chronic kidney disease.
