Innovent Biologics Inc.’s obesity drug mazdutide continued to help people shed pounds for almost a year in a mid-stage study in China, yielding an average 18.6% of body weight lost after 48 weeks.
Mazdutide, being developed with Eli Lilly & Co., will be studied in a late-stage trial beginning before the end of the year, Innovent said in a statement Sunday. Participants initially lost 15% of their body weight — or 14.7 kilograms (32.4 pounds) on average — after 24 weeks’ treatment, results reported in May showed. Those who continued taking a weekly 9 milligram dose for a further 24 weeks eventually shed 19% of their body weight, or 17.8 kilograms on average.
Medications that help overweight and obese patients lose weight without surgery have become a global windfall for pharmaceutical companies while tackling two of humanity’s biggest killers: diabetes and heart disease. Sales of Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, which is commonly used off-label for weight loss, likely jumped to $1.26 billion in the third quarter, according to analysts’ estimates.
Mazdutide targets two different receptors in the body — GLP-1R and GCGR — to increase both energy expenditure and metabolic rate to drive weight loss, China-based Innovent said.
Results from the latest study found the 9 mg dose may offer broad metabolic benefits, including a reduction in liver fat, it said.
