Innovent Biologics has recently made a significant breakthrough in obesity treatment with mazdutide, showcasing promising Phase III (GLORY-1) results. Poised to enter the Chinese market, mazdutide heralds a new era in obesity management, reflecting the China-based biotech company’s commitment to innovative healthcare solutions and addressing the growing need for effective obesity treatments in one of the world’s largest patient populations, says GlobalData, a leading data and analytics company.

Mazdutide is Eli Lilly’s next-generation obesity asset that Innovent is developing as part of a 2019 deal with Eli Lilly where it secured the rights to the dual glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1)/glucagon receptor agonist.

Mazdutide demonstrated superiority to placebo in reducing body weight by week 32 and a significant proportion of patients achieved weight loss of 5% or more, with announcing that weight loss efficacy further improved from weeks 32 to 48. Furthermore, GLORY-1 was able to meet its secondary endpoints, which included the proportion of patients who had weight loss of 10%, significant changes in weight circumference, systolic blood pressure, triglycerides, and low-density lipoproteins.

Akash Patel, Pharma Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The Chinese obesity market is incredibly lucrative, with significant patient population size. Since Eli Lilly completed its Phase III trial for tirzepatide (Mounjaro in the US for type 2 diabetes [T2D] and Zepbound for obesity) at the end of 2022, the competition for market share has intensified. Novo Nordisk won approval for its GLP-1, semaglutide (Ozempic and its oral form Rybelsus), although this was only for T2D, with key opinion leaders reporting off-label prescribing of Ozempic for obesity.”

Mazdutide demonstrated superiority compared to placebo across all of the weight loss and cardiometabolic endpoints and did not present any new safety signals improving its likelihood for success once submitted to Chinese regulators.

Patel concludes: “With mazdutide’s robust clinical data around multiple cardiometabolic indicators, the therapy is poised to gain widespread adoption in the Chinese market. The global obesity therapeutic market is undergoing a significant expansion, spearheaded by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, with an increasing number of large pharmaceutical companies currently developing their own early-stage assets.”