Original report · translated from Chinese
At the ENLIGHT investigator meeting on 6 December, Innogen announced that its independently developed human-derived, ultra-long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist efsubaglutide alfa had met the primary endpoint in the Phase IIb ENLIGHT trial in people with overweight or obesity. Topline data showed significant and clinically meaningful weight reductions across dose groups versus placebo after 18 weeks. The greatest reduction occurred with 20 mg once weekly (QW), at 10.58% from baseline. Safety and tolerability were good. These positive findings mark an important step in weight-loss development and provide a foundation for the subsequent pivotal Phase III program.
Group photograph from the efsubaglutide alfa ENLIGHT weight-loss investigator meeting
Overweight and obesity prevalence continues to rise in China. Obesity is both a chronic disease in its own right and a cause of several major chronic conditions, making it a significant public-health challenge. GLP-1 receptor agonists have established efficacy in people with overweight or obesity. Topline data from the Chinese Phase IIb ENLIGHT study of Innogen's independently developed efsubaglutide alfa confirmed that the primary endpoint was met.
The multicenter study used a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled design and enrolled 200 adults with overweight or obesity who did not have diabetes. It assessed efficacy and safety over 18 weeks across efsubaglutide alfa doses of 5–20 mg. Body weight fell significantly from baseline in every dose group, outperforming placebo (P<0.0001). Weight continued to trend downward during treatment in the efsubaglutide alfa groups.
Strong weight reduction: body weight fell by 10.58% with 20 mg once weekly (QW).
Flexible dosing: 20 mg once every two weeks (Q2W) produced weight loss comparable to 10 mg once weekly.
Metabolic improvement: waist circumference, visceral fat and liver-fat content improved significantly from baseline.
Difference in the reported body-composition ratio
This December 2025 report describes an increase in the fat-to-muscle ratio, including in its English version. The company’s 8 June 2026 ENLIGHT report instead describes a 45.3% increase in the muscle-to-fat ratio. These ratios reverse the numerator and denominator and cannot be used interchangeably. A change in either ratio alone does not show whether absolute muscle mass stayed unchanged.
Fat loss and muscle preservation: fat was ‘preferentially burned,’ and the fat-to-muscle ratio increased significantly.
Safety and tolerability: no hypoglycemia occurred. Gastrointestinal adverse reactions were mostly mild to moderate, transient and self-resolving.
Professor Weiping Jia speaks at the ENLIGHT investigator meeting
ENLIGHT principal investigator Professor Weiping Jia of Shanghai Sixth People's Hospital, affiliated with Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, said: “Efsubaglutide alfa showed encouraging weight-loss efficacy in the Phase IIb study of patients with overweight or obesity. Particularly encouraging was that no participant withdrew because of an adverse event, supporting its good safety and tolerability. During the Phase III ENLIGHT study, all centers together enrolled more than 800 participants in under two months, achieving ‘China speed’ in metabolic-disease clinical research. This was made possible by the participating centers' collaboration and excellent execution, and I sincerely thank them all. I look forward to continuing our work together to advance efsubaglutide alfa's clinical development in obesity and provide an innovative treatment for patients in China and worldwide as soon as possible.”
Professor Liming Chen of Chu Hsien-I Memorial Hospital, Tianjin Medical University, speaking for the participating ENLIGHT centers, said: “The Phase IIb results are encouraging. Alongside strong weight-loss efficacy, the medicine can be given once every two weeks—only 26 injections annually—which greatly improves adherence. It also shows good potential to improve measures associated with metabolic syndrome. These results suggest a potential new option for people with overweight or obesity, and we look forward to further evaluation of its value in Phase III.”
Dr. Qinghua Wang, Innogen's founder, chairman and CEO, said: “The success of this Phase IIb study is an important milestone in Innogen's innovation journey. It again demonstrates the strength of our independently developed platform and the substantial potential of our subsequent pipeline. Building on these positive data, we will accelerate discussions with regulators and advance global multicenter weight-loss studies, aiming to bring better treatment options to people with obesity worldwide as soon as possible.”