A next-generation GLP-1 candidate from Eli Lilly has outdone an older Lilly drug in a Phase 3 trial involving Chinese patients with diabetes, Lilly partner Innovent announced late Wednesday.
The candidate, mazdutide, was “superior compared with dulaglutide,” the active ingredient in Trulicity, for glycemic control after 28 weeks of treatment, Innovent reported. Without disclosing any data, the company added that mazdutide also showed “multiple cardiometabolic benefits,” including weight loss, blood lipid, blood pressure, serum uric acid and liver enzymes.
Dulaglutide is a GLP-1 agonist, while mazdutide hits both GLP-1 and glucagon receptor (GCGR).
Innovent — which has a longstanding alliance with Lilly spanning both cardiometabolic conditions and oncology — first licensed China rights to mazdutide in 2019. The drug is now under review at China’s National Medical Products Administration for weight management after Innovent reported positive results in a Phase 3 weight loss study earlier this year.
Lilly is similarly studying the drug in obesity, with a Phase 2 trial that began late last year.
The Chinese trial, dubbed DREAMS-2, is the first of three late-stage studies Innovent planned around mazdutide in type 2 diabetes. The other two pit the drug against placebo and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide, respectively. Innovent says it is aiming to file an NDA this year.