As Good as simeglutide? The first domestic ultra-long-acting GLP-1 drug has arrived
The Glp-1 craze continues.
After the Lunar New Year holiday, multinational drug companies reported 2024 results. The highlights are the transcripts of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Simeglutide and telpotide, which are in the hands of two weight-loss drug giants, raked in more than $45.7 billion, or 88% of the global market for Glp-1.
But in China, a long-acting GLP-1 drug developed by a domestic company was quietly approved for sale during the Lunar New Year. On Jan. 26, Innox’s isopaglutide Alpha was approved domestically for glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes. On February 11th ISUPAGGLUTIDE alpha was prescribed for the first time in the country.
ISUPAGLUTIDE alpha was 2023 to market in September as“The first human, ultra-long-acting GLP-1 drug with independent intellectual property rights in China”, it is seen as a domestic GLP-1 drug to challenge the supremacy of semeglutide.
According to the prospectus, isopaglutide alpha has the longest average half-life in humans of any marketed Glp-1 drug in the world, the frequency of administration of isopaglutide alpha is expected to achieve biweekly dosing. If successful, ISUPAGLUTIDE alpha could earn a reputation for surpassing imports.
To compete with SMEGGLUTIDE
The birth of Isupaglutide alpha can not be separated from Wang Qinghua, founder of Yinuo Medicine.
He has worked in the field of metabolic diseases for more than 25 years and is a tenured professor at the University of Toronto and a member of the Standing Committee of Frederick Banting Best, one of the world’s leading diabetes institutes. In 2007, Wang was the first to publish research on the use of recombinant fusion protein engineering to produce long-acting GLP-1 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, and invented a series of drugs such as esopagglutide ?.
In 2014, Wang Qinghua returned to China and founded Yinuo pharmaceutical, and isupaglutide ? naturally became its leading product, directly targeting three long-acting GLP-1 drugs: simeglutide, Telportide, and duraglycotide.
In terms of pharmacodynamics, esopaglutide alpha showed comparable efficacy to semeglutide and tilportide. According to the Phase 3 trial, patients received ESOPAGGLUTIDE alpha monotherapy at week 24 in the 1-mg, 3-mg ESOPAGGLUTIDE alpha dose groups; The patients’ Glycated hemoglobin significantly decreased from baseline by 1.7% and 2.2% , respectively. Currently, simeglutide and telpopeptide monotherapy reduce Glycated hemoglobin levels by 1.6% and 1.7% , respectively. At the same time, the incidence of common adverse events such as nausea and vomiting in patients receiving ESOPAGLUTIDE alpha was lower than that of simeglutide and Telportide.
In 2021, Novo Nordisk’s semeglutide became a hit, creating a global fad for weight-loss drugs. On December 17, yinnuo also submitted its prospectus to the Hong Kong Stock Exchange in an effort to list.
Domestic Glp-1 iteration
From the 2023 Glp-1 melee, it is now largely clear that Eli Lilly’s Q3 and Q4 quarters of 2024 telportide sales have fallen short of expectations. Novo Nods also said that demand for semeglutide had weakened, pushing sales growth for 2025 to between 16 per cent and 24 per cent, slightly lower than its previous 2024 growth. The share prices of the two giants have also fallen from their previous peaks.
In China, competition for the home-grown Glp-1 is just beginning.
At present, there are many domestic GLP-1 approved in China, but each has its own defects. Howson’s Polyethylene glycol, Loose, was approved in 2019 as the first domestic long-acting GLP-1 preparation. It is an animal-derived GLP-1 that has been approved for type 2 diabetes. In 2023, the Liraglutide of East China Medicine and Benraglutide of Renhui biology have been approved one after another. Although China has its own domestic GLP-1 weight loss products, neither of them is a long-acting weekly preparation.
Long-term development is a major direction of GLP-1 products. The newly available isopaglutide Alpha is the long-acting version, which is critical for patients with diabetes who need long-term medication and even for people who want to lose weight. Currently, isopaglutide Alpha is administered once a week, and Yinuo is pushing into the clinic, trying to increase its dosing frequency to every two weeks. The clinic started last November and is expected to be completed in the first half of this year.
However, yinnuo can not rest easy just by going beyond its existing products.
Data show that there are still 4 domestic pharmaceutical companies to develop the GLP-1 week preparation has applied for market. And at present let the outside world most expect, Cinda Bio’s marsdu peptide will also be on the market for Glp-1 market. According to Cinda Bio’s latest disclosure, the weight loss indication for Marsdulter is expected to be approved in the first half of this year, and the type 2 diabetes indication in the second half. Yinuo pharmaceutical will soon face market challenges.
Writing | Yang Xixia
Ed. Jiang Yun, Jia Ting
Operations | fog discipline
Illustration | Visual China