Evidence Hub

Safety and efficacy of GZR18, a long-acting GLP-1 analog, in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: A randomized, double-blind, phase 1b/2a trial

Liu M, Wang X, Li M, Yang E, Yang A, Yuan M, Dong R, Qin G et al.

Cell reports. Medicine, 2026

72 participants

Abstract

GZR18 is a long-acting glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist that is under development for the treatment of type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). In this randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 1b/2a trial in Chinese adults with T2DM, the safety and efficacy of once-weekly GZR18 are evaluated using different dose-titration regimens in two separate parts: Part A (0.5-4 mg over 26 weeks) and Part B (1.5-13 mg over 23 weeks). Overall, 72 participants are enrolled, of whom 62 complete the trial. GZR18 significantly reduces glycated hemoglobin (HbA1c) in both parts (Part A: -1.32% for GZR18 versus 0.86% for placebo; Part B: -1.81% for GZR18 versus 0.12% for placebo). Improvements in body weight and other metabolic parameters are also observed. GZR18 is safe and well tolerated, with mostly mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal adverse events; no severe hypoglycemia or treatment-related serious adverse events occurred. These findings support further development of GZR18 in larger, longer-term trials. The trial is registered at ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT06256523).

How strong is the evidence?

Evidence Hub reads this as a randomized trial, done in people. Its evidence level is 2 of 5 (High · randomized trial). Randomized trials of a reasonable size are the strongest single-study design. Reported size: 72 participants or records.

How the five levels of evidence work. The level is assigned automatically from the abstract and can be wrong, so check the paper.

Read the paper

Related studies

Go deeper in Evidence Hub

Evidence Hub adds a study data sheet (design, sample size, evidence level, key numbers), an AI summary and a chat grounded in the paper's text.

Open this study Sign up free