Innovent's Masidotide (IBI362) Prefilled Multi-dose Pen (24mg) Receives First Prescription in China for Type 2 Diabetes
Innovent
High-end Biologics Developer
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NearOn that day, the first prescription in China was issued at Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital for Innovent Biologics’ mazdutide, a glucagon/glucagon-like peptide-1 (GCG/GLP-1) dual receptor agonist—the world’s first approved for type 2 diabetes—in its prefilled multi-dose injection pen formulation (2 mL: 24 mg). This marks not only a significant milestone for domestically produced innovative drugs but also benefits the more than 140 million people in China1offering diabetic patients a more flexible and convenient new treatment option.
China is the country with the largest number of diabetes patients, with approximately 148 million adult diabetes patients.1. However, at present, the rate of achieving target blood glucose control among adult patients with diabetes in China remains below 50%.2. More notably, over 60% of patients with type 2 diabetes are overweight or obese.3— Obesity is indeed one of the most important risk factors for diabetes. It can be said that the dual pressure of "glucose lowering" and "weight reduction" presents a practical challenge for both doctors and patients.
Diabetes management also faces an unavoidable pain point: long-term adherence. Over 90% of patients with diabetes require lifelong medication.4Many patients have had this experience: starting treatment with a low dose, and as blood glucose fluctuates or combination therapy regimens change, the dosage needs to be adjusted continuously. This often requires switching to injection pens of different specifications or making frequent trips back and forth to the hospital. The more complex the treatment, the harder it is to adhere to it. Clinical data show that compared with patients who have poor adherence (<80%) in the first year, those with good adherence (≥80%) have a 23% lower risk of major vascular events and a 28% lower risk of all-cause mortality.5。
Against this backdrop, the launch of Innovent’s mazdutide prefilled multi-dose injection pen addresses an urgent clinical need. A single pen enables precise titration across the full dosage range of 2 mg, 4 mg, and 6 mg. Physicians can flexibly adjust doses based on fluctuations in patients’ blood glucose levels and changes in treatment regimens, with one pen covering the entire care continuum from initiation and dose adjustment to long-term maintenance. After initial use, the pen can be stored under refrigeration for up to 12 weeks. While this design may appear merely “more convenient,” it actually reflects a shift in diabetes management philosophy—from simple “drug administration” to more sustained, personalized chronic disease management.
Mazdutide is the world’s first approved dual-target glucose-lowering agent acting on native GCG/GLP-1 receptors.6Building on the traditional GLP-1 mechanism of promoting insulin secretion, it further activates the GCG receptor, thereby simultaneously targeting the two core pathogenic mechanisms of diabetes: insufficient insulin secretion and insulin resistance. In addition to lowering blood glucose and reducing body weight, it provides comprehensive improvements in multiple metabolic parameters, including blood pressure, lipid profiles, and liver enzymes. This “dual-pathway synergy” approach shifts diabetes treatment from “glucose-lowering alone” to “comprehensive metabolic management.”
About Mazdutide (IBI362)
Mazdutide (IBI362) is a dual glucagon (GCG)/glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist jointly developed by Innovent Biologics and Eli Lilly and Company. As a mammalian oxyntomodulin (OXM) analog, mazdutide not only promotes insulin secretion, lowers blood glucose, and reduces body weight by activating the GLP-1 receptor, but also enhances weight loss efficacy and improves hepatic lipid metabolism by activating the glucagon receptor (GCGR) to increase energy expenditure. Mazdutide has demonstrated superior efficacy in weight reduction and glycemic control across multiple clinical studies, along with reductions in waist circumference, blood lipids, blood pressure, serum uric acid, liver enzymes, and hepatic fat content, as well as improved insulin sensitivity, thereby delivering multiple metabolic benefits.
Innovent has currently initiated or completed nine Phase III clinical studies of mazdutide, including:
Phase III Clinical Study (GLORY-1) Conducted in Overweight or Obese Participants in China;
Phase III clinical study (GLORY-2) conducted among participants with moderate-to-severe obesity in China;
Phase III Clinical Study (DREAMS-1) Conducted in Treatment-Naïve Chinese Patients with Type 2 Diabetes;
A Phase III Clinical Study Comparing Mazdutide and Dulaglutide in Chinese Participants with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus with Inadequate Glycemic Control on Oral Antidiabetic Drugs (DREAMS-2);
A Phase III Clinical Study Comparing Mazdutide and Semaglutide in Participants with Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Complicated by Obesity in China (DREAMS-3);
Phase III Clinical Study (GLORY-3) Comparing Mazdutide with Semaglutide 2.4 mg in Participants with Overweight or Obesity Complicated by Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Fatty Liver Disease (MAFLD) in China;
Phase III Clinical Study (GLORY-OSA) Conducted in Chinese Participants with Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and Obesity;
Phase III Clinical Study in Obese Adolescent Participants in China (GLORY-YOUNG);
Phase III Clinical Study in Chinese Participants with Hypertension Complicated by Obesity (GLORY-H).
Among them, the first five Phase III clinical trials have all met their endpoints, while the latter four Phase III clinical trials are still ongoing.
Furthermore, multiple new clinical studies on mazdutide are ongoing, including those for metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH), heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), and head-to-head trials against higher-dose tirzepatide for the treatment of moderate-to-severe obesity.
*Mazdutide has been approved by the NMPA for two indications, the first being long-term weight management in adult patients based on a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity, with an initial body mass index (BMI) of:
BMI ≥ 28 kg/m² (obesity), or
BMI ≥24 kg/m² (overweight), accompanied by at least one weight-related comorbidity (e.g., hyperglycemia, hypertension, dyslipidemia, fatty liver disease, obstructive sleep apnea syndrome, etc.).
The second indication is for glycemic control in adult patients with type 2 diabetes:
Monotherapy
Adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus whose blood glucose remains poorly controlled despite dietary modification and exercise intervention alone;
Combination Therapy
Adult patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus whose blood glucose remains inadequately controlled despite dietary management and exercise, while being treated with metformin and/or sulfonylureas, or with metformin and/or sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors.
Mazdutide has received repeated academic and industry recognition due to its outstanding research data, with study results successively published in world-renowned top-tier journals such as Nature and the New England Journal of Medicine,JAMA,Published in Nature Communications, Diabetes Care, eClinicalMedicine, and Med, a Cell Press journal. Mazdutide is the first drug in the history of China’s pharmaceutical industry to have two clinical studies simultaneously published in the main journal of Nature, becoming the only GLP-1 medication to top the three premier journals—Nature, the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM), and the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA)—at the same time. Results from the DREAMS-3 clinical study of mazdutide demonstrated that its comprehensive efficacy in weight loss, glucose lowering, and metabolic improvement was superior to that of semaglutide. Mazdutide has been included in multiple Chinese expert consensus guidelines for weight management and diabetes treatment and is regarded as a hallmark of hard technology. Previously, mazdutide was named by the renowned pharmaceutical website FIERCE Pharma to its list of the Top 10 Most Anticipated Innovative Drugs Worldwide in 2025.7, was selected by *Nature Communications* as one of the 50 most important studies in the field of clinical translational medicine and featured as an Editor’s Highlight.8。
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References:
1. Yu Yang, Pan Qi. Advances in Clinical Research and Diagnosis and Treatment of Diabetes Mellitus in 2025[J]. Chinese Journal of the Frontiers of Medicine (Electronic Edition). 2026;18(04):71-72.
2.Li Y, Teng D, Shi X, et al. Prevalence of diabetes recorded in mainland of China using 2018 diagnostic criteria from the American Diabetes Association: national cross sectional study[J]. BMJ. 2020;369:m997.
3. Yang Y, Chen Y, Zhang HJ, et al. Expert consensus on weight management in patients with diabetes (2024 edition) [J]. Chinese Journal of Diabetes. 2024;16(09):959-971.
4.Wang M, Lee K, Thew HZ, et al. Medication Adherence Interventions Among People Living with Diabetes: A Systematic Review[J]. Patient Prefer Adherence. 2025;19:3095-3112.
5.Kim NH, Moon JS, Ha KH, et al. First-year oral antidiabetic adherence and long-term complications in newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes[J]. Diabetes Res Clin Pract. 2025;227:112405.
6. China's Phase III Clinical Trial Results for a New Drug Published in Nature for the First Time -- Health & Lifestyle -- People's Daily Online
7.https://www.fiercepharma.com/marketing/top-10-most-anticipated-drug-launches-2025
8.https://www.nature.com/ncomms/editorshighlights
Statement:
1. This article aims to provide healthcare professionals with additional medical information; it cannot replace professional medical guidance in any way and should not be considered as diagnostic or treatment advice. Innovent does not recommend the use of any unapproved drugs/indications.
2. Ramucirumab Injection (Cyramza®), selpercatinib capsules (Retevmo®), pirtobrutinib tablets (Jaypirca®) and Abemaciclib Tablets (Verzenio®) Developed by Eli Lilly and Company.
