Mazdutide Research: The GLP-1/Glucagon Dual Agonist and Its Chinese Trial Programme

What is mazdutide (IBI362 / LY3305677)?

What is mazdutide? It is a synthetic once-weekly peptide described in the primary literature as a glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonist. It carries three names in the papers, which is a common source of confusion when searching for it: Ji et al. (2022, EClinicalMedicine) state the equivalence explicitly — mazdutide, also known as IBI362 or LY3305677.

Those names encode its history. LY is Eli Lilly’s development prefix, the same one on tirzepatide (LY3298176) and retatrutide (LY3437943); IBI is Innovent Biologics’. Abdul Fasi (2026, Expert Opin Ther Pat) traces that handover in the patent record: early peptide design by Eli Lilly, then formulation, clinical and indication-expansion strategies led by Innovent. Material referenced here is a laboratory synthetic in lyophilized powder form: not a medicine, not for human use.

Origin: an oxyntomodulin analogue with two sponsors

Mazdutide belongs to the oxyntomodulin-analogue subclass — the patent-landscape review analyses it alongside related oxyntomodulin analogues, and oxyntomodulin is the natural gut peptide that activates both the glucagon and GLP-1 receptors. That is the same template survodutide was built from, which is why two molecules from unrelated companies converged on one receptor pair.

Where they diverge is everything after the chemistry. Mazdutide’s clinical programme was designed, run and published in China, beginning with a pair of 2022 phase 1b trials — one in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes (Jiang et al., Nature Communications), one exploring higher doses in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity (Ji et al., EClinicalMedicine) — and has run continuously since. Innovent authorship is disclosed in the papers themselves; several co-authors are company employees, worth knowing when reading any sponsor-run trial.

Reference data

The facts below are drawn from the public chemical record (PubChem CID 167312357). Fields that could not be sourced — including the full residue sequence and the acyl-chain specification — are omitted rather than estimated.

Mechanism — the same two receptors, a different molecule

Each point below is what the published trials and reviews describe, not an effect in any reader:

• GLP-1 receptor — the incretin arm, shared across the entire class and the reason the compound is grouped with the GLP-1 agonists at all.
• Glucagon receptor (GCGR) — the second arm, and the one that puts mazdutide in the dual-agonist category rather than alongside semaglutide. Every clinical paper cited here names the molecule as a GLP-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonist in its title or abstract.
• No GIP arm — stated for clarity, because the two best-known multi-agonists both have one. Mazdutide does not engage the GIP receptor, which is what separates it from tirzepatide and retatrutide.

One honest observation: unlike survodutide, whose preclinical pharmacology and biomarker-based candidate selection were published in detail, mazdutide’s public record is dominated by clinical papers. The receptor characterisation is asserted consistently across independent groups, but a reader looking for a published in-vitro potency-ratio study will find the patent literature (Abdul Fasi 2026) an easier route than the journals. That describes where the evidence sits, not a fault in the molecule. The cross-class comparison lives on the comparison page.

What the mazdutide trials investigated

Read strictly as what each study examined, in whom, and under whose sponsorship:

Early phase

• Jiang et al., 2022 (Nat Commun, PMID 35750681) — a randomised, placebo-controlled phase 1b trial in 43 Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes across nine centres, with open-label dulaglutide as an additional arm. Primary outcomes were safety and tolerability.
• Ji et al., 2022 (EClinicalMedicine, PMID 36247927) — a multiple-ascending-dose phase 1b trial in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity, extending the dose range explored.

Phase 2 and the GLORY programme

• Ji et al., 2023 (Nat Commun, PMID 38092790) — a randomised, two-part, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2 trial in 248 participants at 20 hospitals in China (NCT04904913).
• Ji et al., 2025 (NEJM, PMID 40421736) — GLORY-1, a 48-week phase 3 placebo-controlled trial in Chinese adults with obesity, or overweight with a weight-related coexisting condition.
• Gao et al., 2026 (JAMA, PMID 42251595) — GLORY-2, a randomised trial of the 9 mg dose in Chinese adults with obesity.
• Luo et al., 2026 (Contemp Clin Trials, PMID 41260459) — rationale, design and baseline data for DREAMS-3, a phase 3 trial comparing mazdutide with semaglutide. A design paper reports what a trial intends to measure.

No outcome figures appear here. This page records what was investigated and by whom.

Research models, evidence status, and what is not established

What is established: a continuous, published, peer-reviewed clinical programme running from phase 1b to phase 3 in high-profile journals; consistent identification of the molecule’s two receptor targets across independent papers; and a documented patent and development history from Eli Lilly to Innovent Biologics.

What is not established, and is worth stating plainly rather than glossing over:

• Generalisability beyond the studied population. Every clinical trial cited above enrolled in China. Extending those findings to other populations is an inference the published record does not support.
• A detailed public preclinical pharmacology record. The receptor characterisation is asserted rather than laid out in a widely cited discovery-pharmacology paper of the kind survodutide and tirzepatide each have.
• Anything about a research-grade powder. The trials used a manufactured pharmaceutical administered under medical supervision. Nothing in them transfers to a laboratory reagent.

This page reports no outcome, makes no efficacy or benefit claim, gives no dosing guidance, and describes material that is not for human or veterinary use.

Regulatory status — jurisdiction-specific

Mazdutide is the one compound in this cluster whose status genuinely depends on where you are standing. Innovent Biologics announced in June 2025 that China’s National Medical Products Administration had approved mazdutide for chronic weight management, and subsequently announced approval for glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. It is not approved by the FDA, the EMA or BPOM (Indonesia).

Two points follow. “Approved” without a jurisdiction attached says nothing useful about this molecule, and secondary coverage that omits it is not reliable. And, as everywhere else on this site, an approval attaches to a regulated pharmaceutical supplied through a pharmacy, not to a research reagent. Compare survodutide, which shares the receptor pair and is investigational everywhere, and liraglutide, approved in major markets for well over a decade.

How to verify this compound yourself

Identity and purity for a peptide of this size rest on two orthogonal analytical methods, both reported on a per-batch Certificate of Analysis:

• HPLC purity — reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography separates the target from related impurities and reports purity as a percentage of the chromatogram.
• Mass-spec identity — mass spectrometry confirms the measured mass against the expected molecular weight (≈ 4476 Da). This matters more than usual here: mazdutide sits in a narrow mass band with semaglutide (≈ 4114 Da), survodutide (≈ 4232 Da) and tirzepatide (≈ 4813 Da), so a mass number detached from a named compound and batch does not tell you which molecule is in the vial. Mislabelling within that band is a realistic failure mode, not a theoretical one.
• Endotoxin / sterility — where tested, separate quality attributes reported independently of chemical purity.

Because this compound carries three interchangeable names, a certificate should name it in a way that matches what was ordered. See how to read a COA, how to verify peptide purity, and how to spot a fake COA; check the exact batch on the self-serve verify tool.

Research-grade sourcing and verification

Mazdutide is not held in Cellworks stock. It appears in the sourcing catalogue as available to order: our supplier lists it, we have not bought it, and sourcing takes roughly two to three weeks. No price is quoted until availability is confirmed, and there is no cart button for it.

Anything sourced this way is a laboratory research reagent with a per-batch Certificate of Analysis reporting HPLC purity (%) and mass-spectrometry identity. It is not the approved Chinese pharmaceutical product and is not for human use.

Frequently asked questions

Literature cited

1. Jiang H, Pang S, Zhang Y, et al. “A phase 1b randomised controlled trial of a glucagon-like peptide-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonist IBI362 (LY3305677) in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes.” Nat Commun. 2022;13(1):3613. PMID 35750681. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35750681.
2. Ji L, Gao L, Jiang H, et al. “Safety and efficacy of a GLP-1 and glucagon receptor dual agonist mazdutide (IBI362) 9 mg and 10 mg in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity: A randomised, placebo-controlled, multiple-ascending-dose phase 1b trial.” EClinicalMedicine. 2022;54:101691. PMID 36247927. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36247927.
3. Ji L, Jiang H, Cheng Z, et al. “A phase 2 randomised controlled trial of mazdutide in Chinese overweight adults or adults with obesity.” Nat Commun. 2023;14(1):8289. PMID 38092790. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38092790.
4. Ji L, Jiang H, Bi Y, et al. “Once-Weekly Mazdutide in Chinese Adults with Obesity or Overweight.” (GLORY-1) N Engl J Med. 2025;392(22):2215–2225. PMID 40421736. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40421736.
5. Gao L, Jiang H, Cai H, et al. “Treatment With 9-mg Mazdutide for Weight Reduction in Chinese Adults With Obesity: The GLORY-2 Randomized Clinical Trial.” JAMA. 2026. PMID 42251595. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42251595.
6. Luo Y, Jiang H, Shi B, et al. “Mazdutide versus Semaglutide for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and obesity: Rationale, design and baseline data of DREAMS-3 phase 3 trial.” Contemp Clin Trials. 2026;160:108150. PMID 41260459. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41260459.
7. Abdul Fasi M. “Patent landscape and therapeutic evolution of mazdutide: a dual GLP-1/Glucagon receptor agonist for obesity and type 2 diabetes.” Expert Opin Ther Pat. 2026;36(5):459–469. PMID 41820018. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41820018.
8. National Center for Biotechnology Information. “PubChem Compound Summary for CID 167312357, Mazdutide.” pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/compound/167312357 (formula, mass, CAS 2259884-03-0).
9. Regulatory status (stated neutrally, not a research citation): Innovent Biologics announcements of China NMPA approval of mazdutide for chronic weight management (June 2025) and for glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes. prnewswire.com.