In the global obesity drug market, Denmark's Novo Nordisk's "Wegovy (semaglutide)" and U.S. Eli Lilly's "mounjaro (tirzepatide)" form a two-strong structure, while an obesity drug that Lilly co-developed with a Chinese corporations showed better efficacy than Wegovy in a recent clinical trial.
China's Innovent said on the 27th that "the new drug for diabetes and obesity mazdutide showed superior efficacy in a phase 3 clinical trial directly comparing it with semaglutide."
Semaglutide is a drug that mimics glucagon-like peptide (GLP)-1, a hormone secreted in the small intestine after meals. It reduces appetite in the brain and increases satiety to reduce weight. Tirzepatide is also a GLP-1 class obesity drug.
By contrast, mazdutide is the world's first obesity drug that simultaneously stimulates the glucagon (GCG) receptor, which regulates energy expenditure and lipid metabolism, along with GLP-1. The company said that by doing so, it increases energy expenditure in the body and improves hepatic lipid metabolism, delivering stronger weight-loss effects than GLP-1 monotherapy.
Mazdutide was approved in June this year by China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) as a therapy for type 2 diabetes and weight management. Lilly and Innovent signed a co-development and commercialization agreement in China in 2019.
In a phase 3 clinical trial in China involving 349 adults with obesity and early type 2 diabetes, Innovent administered 6 mg of mazdutide and 1 mg of semaglutide, respectively, and compared efficacy over 32 weeks.
In the trial results, 48% of the mazdutide group maintained glycated hemoglobin below 7.0%, which indicates average blood glucose level, and succeeded in losing at least 10% of their body weight. By contrast, only 21% of the semaglutide group met that threshold.
A glycated hemoglobin level of 6.5% or higher is diagnosed as diabetes. For people with diabetes, the goal is to maintain glycated hemoglobin at 6.5%–7.0% through lifestyle improvements and drug therapy. This is why the primary endpoint in clinical trials of diabetes treatments is glycated hemoglobin at or below 7.0%.
Mazdutide's effects also stood out in detailed measures. At week 32 of dosing, patients' glycated hemoglobin fell by an average of 2.03%, and body weight decreased by 10.26% from baseline. The semaglutide group saw decreases of 1.84% and 6%, respectively.
Linong Ji, the principal investigator of the clinical trial, said, "A treatment strategy that simultaneously achieves blood glucose control and weight loss is playing an increasingly important role in improving outcomes for patients with type 2 diabetes accompanied by obesity."
Lei Qian, head of research and development (R&D) at Innovent, said, "Mazdutide will help a wide range of patient groups that require multifaceted benefits, including blood glucose control, weight management, and improvement of cardiometabolic risk factors."
Lilly and Innovent are currently conducting another clinical trial comparing mazdutide and semaglutide in patients with metabolic dysfunction–associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) accompanied by obesity. Trials for adolescent obesity and metabolic dysfunction–associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and heart failure are also planned. Korea's D&D Pharmatech is developing DD01, a MASH therapy that targets GLP-1 and glucagon simultaneously.