UBT251 reduces HbA1c by up to 2.16% in Chinese Phase 2 diabetes trial

Novo Nordisk and its Chinese partner, The United Laboratories International Holdings (TUL), announced on March 25, 2026, that an experimental drug called UBT251 lowered blood sugar and body weight more than semaglutide in a mid-stage trial of Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes ^[1]. UBT251 is a "triple agonist" that acts on three separate gut and pancreas hormone receptors — GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon — rather than the one or two targeted by drugs already on the US market ^[1].

In the 211-person trial, participants started with an average HbA1c, a measure of long-term blood sugar, of 8.12% ^[1]. After 24 weeks of once-weekly injections, the highest average HbA1c reduction in the UBT251 groups was 2.16%, compared with 1.77% in patients taking semaglutide 1 mg (the injectable dose used in Ozempic) and 0.66% in the placebo group ^[1]. Patients also started at an average body weight of 80.1 kilograms, or about 176.5 pounds, and an average BMI of 29.1 ^[1]. The UBT251 groups lost up to 9.8% of body weight, versus 4.8% for the semaglutide group and 1.4% for placebo ^[1].

The trial tested three doses of UBT251 — 2 mg, 4 mg, and 6 mg — given weekly by injection, alongside placebo and semaglutide 1 mg, in patients managing diabetes through lifestyle changes alone or with metformin ^[1]. Beyond blood sugar and weight, UBT251 also showed improvements over placebo in waist size, blood pressure, and lipid levels ^[1]. Novo Nordisk said the drug's safety and tolerability profile looked consistent with what has been seen in other triple-hormone drugs in this class ^[1], though the release did not list specific side effects or dropout rates from this trial.

UBT251 was developed by United Biotechnology, a TUL subsidiary, which licensed rights outside of Chinese mainland, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan to Novo Nordisk in March 2025 ^[1]. United Biotechnology keeps the rights within those Chinese markets and plans to start two Phase 3 trials in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes based on these results ^[1]. Novo Nordisk said it will present fuller data at a medical meeting later this year ^[1].

Why it matters for patients

This is not a drug patients in the United States can access, and it is not close to that stage. The results come from a Chinese Phase 2 trial, one step in a long approval process, and Novo Nordisk has not filed anything with the FDA for UBT251 ^[1]. Still, the numbers point to where the GLP-1 drug field may be heading: newer molecules that hit three hormone targets at once, aiming for bigger blood sugar and weight reductions than single- or dual-target drugs like semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy, Rybelsus) or tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) ^[1].

For people currently on semaglutide or tirzepatide, this news doesn't change anything about their current treatment. The comparison in this trial was against semaglutide 1 mg, a diabetes dose, not the higher doses used for weight loss in Wegovy, so the comparison to weight-loss outcomes people may be more familiar with is limited ^[1]. The trial also only followed patients for 24 weeks, so nothing is known yet about longer-term safety or how weight and blood sugar changes hold up over a year or more ^[1].

What happens next

Novo Nordisk expects to start a global Phase 2 trial of UBT251 in people with type 2 diabetes in the second half of 2026 ^[1]. It is also running a separate global Phase 1b/2a trial of UBT251 in about 330 people with overweight or obesity, with topline results expected in 2027 ^[1]. United Biotechnology plans to launch two Phase 3 trials in Chinese diabetes patients, based on this Phase 2 data ^[1]. Full trial results will be presented at a medical congress later in 2026 ^[1]. Any potential path to US approval would depend on results from the global trials, which have not yet started reading out.