HANGZHOU, China, March 6, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences Co., Ltd. (“Sciwind”), a biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery and development of innovative therapies for metabolic diseases, announced today that China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) has approved Ecnoglutide injection for chronic weight management in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity.
Ecnoglutide injection is the world’s first approved cAMP-biased GLP-1RA for weight management. Through its unique biased mechanism, it achieves highly effective weight reduction in the Chinese population, with an average 15.1% placebo-adjusted weight loss, and 92.8% of patients reaching clinical meaningful weight loss. This marks a breakthrough in the field of weight management, and provides a precise new pathway for scientific, long‑acting and healthy weight loss.
Biased Mechanism for More Effective and Healthier Weight Loss
Based on the globally pioneering cAMP-biased GLP-1 receptor agonism mechanism, Ecnoglutide injection selectively activates the cAMP signaling pathway and minimizes β-arrestin recruitment, distinguishing it from conventional non-biased GLP-1RAs. This mechanism delivers potent and sustained weight loss with no obvious plateau phase, and supports concurrent improvement in metabolism and reduced chronic disease risk alongside weight reduction, perfectly aligning with the core goals of healthy weight management.
The Phase 3 clinical trial results of Ecnoglutide injection were formally published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in June 2025, and were further highlighted in a special report by Nature. Its clinical findings have also been oral presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) Scientific Sessions and the Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD), underscoring its innovative value in weight management.
15.1% Weight Loss at 48 Weeks: Sustained Effect, No Plateau and Comprehensive Benefits
The approval of Ecnoglutide injection for weight management is supported by the Phase 3 clinical trial (SLIMMER) conducted in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity.
- Using the treatment policy estimand, at week 48, Ecnoglutide demonstrated dose-dependent weight loss, with the highest dose (2.4 mg) achieving a mean 15.4% (placebo-adjusted 15.1%) reduction from baseline and 92.8% of participants achieving clinically meaningful ≥5% weight loss – nearly seven times the placebo response rate. Notably, 79.6% and 63.5% of participants achieved ≥10% and ≥15% weight reduction, respectively, numerically exceeding results seen with other unbiased GLP-1 therapies in similar populations.
- Patients in the Ecnoglutide groups continued to have weight loss at week 48 without reaching a plateau, indicating that even greater weight loss might be achievable with extended Ecnoglutide treatment.
- Accompanied by clinically meaningful weight loss, Ecnoglutide treatment significantly improved other key cardiometabolic risk factors (including waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profile, HbA1c, fasting glucose, insulin level, and HOMA-IR) along with a notable reduction in uric acid levels, up to 54.3 µmol/L, and lower hyperuricaemia incidence.
- In addition, Ecnoglutide significantly reduced liver fat content. Among participants with a baseline liver fat content ≥ 8%, the mean percentage change from baseline in liver fat content at week 40 reached -53.1% in the Ecnoglutide 2.4 mg group. Furthermore, all Ecnoglutide doses demonstrated significantly greater reductions in liver enzyme concentrations compared to the placebo group.
“As the world’s first approved biased GLP‑1 receptor agonist, Ecnoglutide demonstrated the most pronounced weight‑loss efficacy in the SLIMMER study among all GLP‑1 receptor agonist trials for weight management conducted in China to date. ” said Dr. Linong Ji, Principal Investigator of the SLIMMER trial. ” Following 48 weeks of treatment, the Ecnoglutide group achieved a 15.4% reduction in body weight, and 92.8% of patients attained clinically meaningful weight loss. Given its superior efficacy, Ecnoglutide will provide a more potent treatment option for individuals in China with weight‑management needs upon approval.”
“The approval of Ecnoglutide injection for weight management is an important milestone for Sciwind in the metabolic disease area, and a breakthrough for China‑innovated drugs in the global GLP‑1 field. As the world’s first approved cAMP‑biased GLP‑1 receptor agonist, Ecnoglutide injection has now completed its strategic positioning for both weight management and type 2 diabetes indications. Sciwind is committed to delivering innovative therapies with robust weight loss and superior metabolic benefits to address long-unmet medical needs, providing a safer, more scientific and sustainable treatment option for patients with overweight and obesity in China and globally.” Said Dr. Hai Pan, the Founder and CEO of Sciwind Biosciences.
About Overweight and Obesity
The prevalence of overweight and obesity in China continues to rise. As an independent chronic disease and a major risk factor for multiple comorbidities, obesity has become a major public health issue and the sixth leading risk factor for death and disability in China. Obesity represents a multifaceted health challenge with far-reaching implications across multiple organ systems. Obesity related diseases encompass a broad spectrum of conditions including cardiovascular disease, T2DM, MASH, OSA and numerous other comorbidities. Lifestyle intervention remains the cornerstone of overweight and obesity management. When lifestyle modifications alone fail to achieve weight loss goals, pharmacotherapy may be used as combination treatment.
About Ecnoglutide
Ecnoglutide injection, originally discovered and developed by Sciwind Biosciences, is the world’s first approved cAMP-biased GLP-1 receptor agonist enhancing clinical efficacy and accessibility. Ecnoglutide injection has currently been approved for two indications in China: adult weight management with overweight or obesity and the treatment of adult type 2 diabetes. From Phase I through Phase III, Ecnoglutide injection has consistently demonstrated a favorable safety profile and strong efficacy, with the findings published in leading metabolic journals, underscoring its potential as a promising therapy for patients with metabolic diseases.
About Sciwind Biosciences
Sciwind Biosciences is a commercial-stage biopharmaceutical company, dedicated to addressing the unmet medical needs in the field of weight management and metabolic diseases. Sciwind has established a robust pipeline anchored by the lead asset, Ecnoglutide (XW003). It has developed multiple proprietary technology platforms, including biased agonist discovery platform, long-acting and oral peptide delivery platforms, and has identified a series of drug candidates based on these core technology platforms. Sciwind has built an extensive pipeline targeting GLP-1 and synergistic pathways, offering both injectable and oral treatment solutions to deliver sustainable and high-quality therapies for patients with metabolic diseases.
For more information, please visit www.sciwindbio.com.
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