| Trial results
Two phase 2 trials of UBT251, an investigational once-weekly injection that acts on the GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors, were published in Cell Metabolism in October 2026. Both ran 24 weeks in Chinese adults and tested four UBT251 groups: 2 mg, 4 mg reached from a 0.5 mg or a 1 mg start, and 6 mg. In the obesity trial, 205 adults without type 2 diabetes lost an average of 13.6% to 19.7% of their body weight on UBT251, versus 2.0% on placebo.
In the type 2 diabetes trial, 211 adults received UBT251, semaglutide 1 mg or placebo. HbA1c, a blood sugar measure, fell by 1.98% to 2.16% on UBT251, by 1.77% on semaglutide and by 0.66% on placebo, and the authors report greater weight loss on UBT251 than on either comparison. Stomach and bowel symptoms were the most common side effects, mostly mild to moderate. Phase 3 trials are registered in China, including UNIGUIDE-2, which compares UBT251 with semaglutide in 956 people.
Worth knowing: Both trials were run by the developer, and employees of the developer and of Novo Nordisk are among the authors. They were phase 2 trials of 24 weeks, in China only. The abstracts give ranges across the four groups rather than a result for each amount, and the Atlas has not read the full papers. The semaglutide comparison was not designed as a head-to-head test. UBT251 is not approved anywhere.
Related: Pipeline | Trial results explorer | Medicine library
Source: Zhou Z, et al. Cell Metab. 2026 (published October 8, 2026) Journal article. Zhou Z, et al. Cell Metab. 2026 (published October 26, 2026) Journal article. ClinicalTrials.gov identifier NCT07653477. Sponsor: The United Bio-Technology (Hengqin) Co., Ltd. Trial registry.