A triple-target drug cut body weight by up to 19.7% in a trial
Average body weight fell between 13.6% and 19.7% across drug doses compared with 2.0% on placebo over 24 weeks.
Cell Metabolism
In a multicentre, double-blind randomised trial, researchers tested the drug UBT251 in 205 adults with overweight or obesity aged 18 to 61 years without type 2 diabetes. Women made up 59.0% of the participants. The drug targets three hormone receptors: GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon. Participants received once-weekly UBT251 at doses of 2, 4, or 6 milligrams, or a placebo, for 24 weeks. By week 24, average body weight fell by 13.6% to 19.7% in groups receiving UBT251, compared with 2.0% in the placebo group. Placebo-adjusted differences ranged from 11.5% to 17.7%. UBT251 also improved waist circumference, body mass index, blood pressure, lipid profiles, and blood sugar measures. The most frequent adverse events were mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal symptoms.
Why it matters
Cardiometabolic markers such as blood pressure, lipids, and blood sugar control often deteriorate as people grow older. Testing whether UBT251 can safely improve these measures while reducing body weight bears on strategies to protect metabolic health across adulthood.
Caveats
The trial followed 205 adults without type 2 diabetes for 24 weeks, meaning larger phase 3 trials are needed to evaluate longer-term efficacy and safety. In addition, mild-to-moderate digestive symptoms were the most frequent adverse events reported during treatment.
The paper
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Guoping Yang, Haifang Wang, Bimin Shi, Qijuan Dong, Xiaoxia Shi, Xiaoguang Shi, Hongyan Shu, Wenli Sun, Chongbing Huang, Shuping Zhao, Li Mao, Wei Wang, Ping Xiong, Xiaowen Chen, Junhang Tian, Haiyan Zhang, Tao Su, Liang Huang, Sofie Bay Simony, Thomas Holst-Hansen,The Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University · Zhuhai United Laboratories Co.
Cell Metabolism · 7 Oct 2026