China approves Sciwind's ecnoglutide for chronic weight management

Sciwind Biosciences said on March 6, 2026 that China's National Medical Products Administration approved ecnoglutide injection for chronic weight management in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity ^[1]. It is the second approved indication in China for the drug, which is already cleared there for type 2 diabetes, and the company describes it as the world's first approved cAMP-biased GLP-1 receptor agonist for weight management ^[1].

What the SLIMMER trial found

The approval rests on a Phase 3 trial called SLIMMER, conducted in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity ^[1]. At week 48, the 2.4 mg dose produced a mean 15.4% reduction in body weight from baseline, or 15.1% after adjusting for placebo ^[1]. The company said 92.8% of participants taking the drug reached at least 5% weight loss, which it calls a clinically meaningful result, nearly seven times the placebo rate ^[1]. It also reported that 79.6% reached at least 10% weight loss and 63.5% reached at least 15% ^[1]. Patients were still losing weight at week 48 without reaching a plateau, which Sciwind says suggests more weight loss might be possible with longer treatment ^[1].

The results were published in The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology in June 2025 and presented at scientific meetings of the American Diabetes Association and the European Association for the Study of Diabetes, according to the announcement ^[1].

How it is described against other GLP-1s

Ecnoglutide is described as a cAMP-biased GLP-1 receptor agonist: it selectively activates the cAMP signaling pathway and minimizes recruitment of a protein called beta-arrestin, which the company says distinguishes it from conventional "non-biased" GLP-1 receptor agonists ^[1]. Whether that mechanism produces a meaningful clinical difference has not been established in this announcement.

Alongside weight loss, the company reported improvements in waist circumference, blood pressure, lipid profile, HbA1c, fasting glucose, insulin level and insulin resistance, plus a reduction in uric acid of up to 54.3 micromol/L ^[1]. Among participants whose liver fat was at least 8% at the start, average liver fat fell 53.1% by week 40 in the 2.4 mg group, and all doses lowered liver enzyme levels more than placebo ^[1].

"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," said Dr. Linong Ji, principal investigator of the SLIMMER trial ^[1]. Dr. Hai Pan, Sciwind's founder and CEO, called the approval "an important milestone" for the company and "a breakthrough for China-innovated drugs in the global GLP-1 field" ^[1].

The announcement says ecnoglutide "has consistently demonstrated a favorable safety profile" from Phase 1 through Phase 3 ^[1]. Specific rates of side effects, such as nausea or vomiting, and how many participants stopped treatment because of them were not disclosed in the approval announcement. Sciwind has also announced a partnership with Pfizer China to commercialize the drug in China ^[1]; terms were not included. A separate release listed on the same page describes a head-to-head study comparing ecnoglutide with semaglutide, with details of that trial not included in the approval announcement ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

For people in the United States, this approval does not change what is available. Ecnoglutide is approved in China only, and no application for U.S. approval has been reported. There is also no reported timeline for a U.S. filing, no U.S. pricing, and no indication that Sciwind plans to sell the drug in the U.S. market.

For patients in China, the approval adds another domestically developed injectable GLP-1 option for weight management, alongside semaglutide and other products already sold there. More approved competitors in a market can affect price and access over time, but this announcement did not disclose what ecnoglutide will cost, when it will reach pharmacies, or how it will be priced against existing drugs ^[1].

The practical questions a patient would ask about a new weight-management drug, including common side effects, how many people stop treatment, and how it performs against existing options in a direct comparison, are not answered by this approval notice ^[1]. The company's claim that its biased mechanism offers advantages over other GLP-1 receptor agonists is its own characterization; the announcement did not include data from a completed head-to-head trial against another approved drug.

What happens next

Launch timing, pricing and supply plans for ecnoglutide in China have not been disclosed ^[1]. No timeline for regulatory submissions outside China has been reported. The drug's use in the U.S. would require a separate approval process that, as of this announcement, has not been announced ^[1].