CSPC's Chemically Synthesized Semaglutide HD1916 Matches Wegovy on Weight Loss in a 462-Person Phase 3 Trial in China
A Phase 3 trial published October 7, 2026 in Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism randomized 462 Chinese adults with obesity (BMI of 28 or higher) and no diabetes at 30 centers to once-weekly HD1916, a semaglutide made by chemical synthesis instead of in yeast, or to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy for 44 weeks. Weight fell 13.1% with HD1916 and 14.4% with Wegovy, a 1.35-percentage-point gap that stayed inside the preset equivalence margin of 4.16 points, and 87.8% versus 90.5% lost at least 5% of their body weight. The open-label trial was sponsored by the drug's developer, CSPC Baike (Shandong) Biopharmaceutical, whose employees are among the authors; side effects of any grade occurred in 86.5% and 89.2% of participants, mostly mild to moderate.