Innovent files high-dose mazdutide for obesity in China

Innovent has filed a new high-strength version of its weight-loss drug mazdutide in China that it says could meet a clinical need in people living with moderate-to-severe obesity.

Dual glucagon (GCG) and GLP-1 agonist mazdutide is already approved for both type 2 diabetes and obesity in China at doses between 2 mg and 6 mg, but the new version aims to provide an option for very overweight people who need options beyond current standard-of-care treatment with bariatric surgery.

Mazdutide was originally developed by Eli Lilly, which is developing it in other world markets, and has made a strong start in the Chinese market against rivals like Novo Nordisk's GLP-1 agonist Wegovy (semaglutide) – currently the biggest-selling product, but due to lose patent protection in China next year, according to a Financial Times report earlier this year – and Lilly's GIP/GLP-1 agonist Mounjaro (tirzepatide).

The market for weight-loss medicines in China has been growing at a rapid pace, driven by rising obesity rates, with a recent report suggesting that more than half of Chinese adults are overweight or obese, a proportion that could swell to two-thirds by 2030, according to World Obesity Federation data.

Mazdutide's strong uptake stems from data from head-to-head studies showing it is more effective than semaglutide at helping overweight people with type 2 diabetes to lose weight and control their blood sugar levels. Lilly is running midstage trials of the drug outside China, but is devoting more of its R&D resources to retatrutide, a triple therapy that combines GLP-1, GIP, and GCG agonism in one molecule and is in several phase 3 trials.

In the GLORY-2 clinical trial in Chinese adults with moderate to severe obesity, mazdutide 9 mg achieved a mean weight reduction of 18.55% at 60 weeks, versus around 3% in the placebo group, with a 20% weight loss seen in 44% and 2.5% of subjects, respectively.

In obese people without type 2 diabetes, the average weight loss with mazdutide 9 mg reached more than 20%, with no evidence that it had plateaued at the end of the follow-up period.

Lead investigator Prof Linong Ji of Peking University People's Hospital noted that treatment options for very obese people in China, those with a BMI over 32.5 kg/m², are very limited, with surgery recommended in guidelines as the first-line treatment.

However, "the invasiveness of the procedure and patient apprehension significantly limit its widespread clinical application," he said, adding that the GLORY-2 data position mazdutide as "a highly promising alternative to metabolic surgery, potentially filling a major clinical gap."