Nature communicationsSep 27, 2024

Effectiveness and safety of the diabetes drug ecnoglutide in adults with type 2 diabetes in a controlled clinical trial

GLP-1 Therapies Weekly Brief ↗PubMed ↗DOI ↗OA ↗

Updated Jan 20, 2026

Abstract

Participants receiving 1.2 mg ecnoglutide experienced a HbA1c reduction of -2.39% at Week 20.

Ecnoglutide showed statistically significant HbA1c reductions compared to placebo.
71.9% of participants in the 1.2 mg group achieved HbA1c ≤ 6.5%, compared to 9.1% in the placebo group.
33.3% of the 1.2 mg group had body weight reductions of 5% or more, while only 3.0% in the placebo group achieved this.
The treatment was generally safe and well tolerated among participants.

Simplified

Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) analogs are important therapeutics for type 2 diabetes and obesity. Ecnoglutide (XW003) is a novel, long-acting GLP-1 analog. We conducted a Phase 2, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolling 145 adults with T2DM. Participants were randomized to 0.4, 0.8, or 1.2 mg ecnoglutide or placebo as once-weekly injections for 20 weeks. The primary objective was to evaluate the efficacy of ecnoglutide, as measured by HbA1c change from baseline at Week 20. Secondary endpoints included body weight, glucose and lipid parameters, as well as safety. We show that, at end of treatment, the 0.4, 0.8, and 1.2 mg groups had statistically significant HbA1c reductions from baseline of -1.81%, -1.90%, and -2.39%, respectively, compared to -0.55% for placebo (P < 0.0001). At end of treatment, 71.9% of the 1.2 mg group had HbA1c ≤ 6.5% versus 9.1% on placebo, and 33.3% had body weight reductions ≥5% versus 3.0% for placebo. Ecnoglutide was generally safe and well tolerated. China Drug Trials Registry CTR20211014.

Key numbers

-2.39%

Reduction

Change in levels for 1.2 mg group at 20 weeks.

71.9%

Achievement of Target

Proportion of participants with ≤ 6.5% for 1.2 mg vs. 9.1% for placebo.

33.3%

Body Weight Reduction ≥5%

Proportion of participants achieving weight loss ≥5% for 1.2 mg vs. 3.0% for placebo.

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Funding

Competing interests

This study was funded and sponsored by Sciwind Biosciences. D.Z., W.W., G.T., G.M., J.M., J.H., X.Z., Y. Liu, and S.G. received funding from Sciwind to their institutions as trial investigators. H.Q., Q.Z., J.N., Z.Z., M.G., Y.B., Y. Li, C.L.J., M.F., M.K.J., S.X., and H.P. are, or were at the time of the study, employees of Sciwind.

PubMed

Effectiveness and safety of the diabetes drug ecnoglutide in adults with type 2 diabetes in a controlled clinical trial

Abstract

Key numbers

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Funding

Competing interests

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Abstract

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Full Text

Funding

Competing interests

Related papers

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Recent issues from the glp-1 therapies brief