Peptide News Digest

Vivani and Novo Nordisk Partner on a Semaglutide Implant, Kailera's Oral GLP-1 Clears Phase 3 in China, a JAMA Secret-Shopper Study on Online GLP-1 Prescribing, Ascletis Files Amylin-Peptide INDs

Vivani and Novo partner on a semaglutide implant, Kailera's oral GLP-1 clears Phase 3 in China, and a JAMA study finds online GLP-1 prescribing fast and loose.

6 stories · Covering industry, clinical-trials, research, regulatory

Editor's Note

Most of the day's news was about the two ends of the GLP-1 pipeline: how these drugs get delivered and how they get prescribed. Vivani's implant deal with Novo Nordisk and Anodyne's needle-free patch financing point to a race past the weekly injection, while Kailera's China Phase 3 adds another oral contender to a crowded field. A JAMA secret-shopper study cut the other way, documenting how little clinical oversight stands between a website and a semaglutide prescription. Two items looked beyond weight loss entirely: Ascletis pushed amylin biology further into obesity with a pair of once-monthly peptide INDs, and a Nature Communications antimicrobial-peptide result is a reminder that the peptide frontier extends well past metabolism, into drug-resistant infection.

Industry

Vivani Medical and Novo Nordisk Sign Non-Exclusive Agreement for Novo to Evaluate NPM-139, a Once- or Twice-Yearly Semaglutide Implant

On July 7, Vivani Medical announced a non-exclusive agreement letting Novo Nordisk evaluate NPM-139, a miniature ultra-long-acting semaglutide implant built on Vivani's NanoPortal technology and designed for once- or twice-yearly dosing. The deal grants no exclusivity over NPM-139 or the NanoPortal platform. It follows a June 25 Australian ethics-committee clearance for SLIM-1, a Phase 1 trial of NPM-139 that builds on Vivani's earlier NPM-119 exenatide implant.

#vivani-medical #novo-nordisk #npm-139 #semaglutide #drug-delivery #implant
Clinical Trials

Kailera and Hengrui Report Positive Phase 3 Topline for Oral GLP-1 HRS-7535/KAI-7535: Up to 10.9% Weight Loss in a Chinese Obesity Trial

On July 7, Kailera Therapeutics reported positive topline results from two Hengrui Pharma Phase 3 trials in China of HRS-7535/KAI-7535, a once-daily oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist licensed to Kailera outside Greater China. In HARBOR-1, 556 adults with obesity or overweight lost a mean 9.5% of body weight at 120 mg and 10.9% at 180 mg by week 44. OUTSTAND-2, in 810 adults with type 2 diabetes, showed HbA1c reductions of 1.50% to 1.68% and non-inferiority versus dapagliflozin. Hengrui plans China NDA filings; Kailera is running a parallel global Phase 2.

#kailera #hengrui #hrs-7535 #oral-glp-1 #obesity #phase-3
Research

JAMA Secret-Shopper Study: 45 of 49 Online Sellers Prescribed Semaglutide or Tirzepatide, Most Within a Day, With Little Clinical Oversight

A JAMA study led by a Yale researcher, reported by STAT on July 6, had an investigator pose as a patient across 49 websites selling branded or compounded semaglutide or tirzepatide between August and December 2025. Of those, 45 sites (91.8%) issued a prescription, with a median time to prescription of one day or less and often minimal clinical evaluation. The findings sharpen concerns about telehealth prescribing standards as enforcement against compounded GLP-1s tightens.

#glp-1 #telehealth #jama #semaglutide #tirzepatide #online-prescribing
Regulatory

Ascletis Files Two US FDA INDs for Obesity: ASC36, a Once-Monthly Amylin-Receptor Peptide, and ASC36_35, an Amylin/GLP-1/GIP Co-Formulation

On July 5, Ascletis submitted two INDs to the FDA: ASC36, a peptide amylin receptor agonist dosed once monthly to once quarterly by injection, and ASC36_35, a co-formulation pairing ASC36 with the GLP-1R/GIPR agonist peptide ASC35. In diet-induced obese rat studies, ASC36 monotherapy showed roughly 91% and 32% greater relative body-weight reduction than petrelintide and eloralintide, and the ASC36_35 combination showed about 51% greater reduction than co-administered eloralintide plus tirzepatide. The filings push amylin biology further into the obesity race.

#ascletis #amylin #asc36 #obesity #ind #gip
Industry

Anodyne Nanotech Raises $12.6M Series A to Move a Needle-Free Once-Weekly GLP-1 Patch Into Phase 1

Anodyne Nanotech closed a $12.6 million Series A, led by Velocity Partners, to advance ANN-101, a once-weekly GLP-1 skin patch, into first-in-human trials. The Boston company's HeroPatch solid-state microneedle platform delivers multi-milligram doses of peptides without injections or cold storage, aiming to reach the drug exposures obesity treatment requires. The round adds to a wave of investment in alternatives to weekly GLP-1 injections.

#anodyne-nanotech #glp-1 #drug-delivery #microneedle #series-a #obesity
Research

Nature Communications: A Synthetic D-Amino-Acid Peptide Kills Multidrug-Resistant Pneumonia Bacteria and Restores Antibiotic Sensitivity

A study in Nature Communications describes a linear antimicrobial peptide built from four D-tryptophan/D-arginine/D-lysine repeats that stays stable in the body and kills multidrug-resistant bacteria, including MRSA and Klebsiella pneumoniae. In bacterial pneumonia models, the peptide acted through membrane targeting alongside DNA binding, reactive-oxygen accumulation, and ATP depletion, showed low potential to drive resistance, and helped restore sensitivity to existing antibiotics.

#antimicrobial-peptides #antibiotic-resistance #mrsa #klebsiella-pneumoniae #d-amino-acids #nature-communications