Portfolio News
BEIJING, China, March 25, 2026 – On March 13, 2026, Beijing QL Biopharmaceutical Co., Ltd. (QL Biopharm) hosted an investigator’s meeting for its Phase 3 study, HORIZON-1, entitled "A Study of Zovaglutide in Subjects with Overweight or Obesity (HORIZON-1)” (NCT07230119). Among the variations of GLP-1 therapeutics under clinical study, zovaglutide (ZT002) is designed to possess an extended half-life that can support once-monthly dosing.
HORIZON-1 is evaluating the efficacy, safety, and pharmacokinetics of zovaglutide, administered by sub-cutaneous (SC) injection, across forty-five research centers, with Dr. Linong Ji of the Peking University People’s Hospital as the lead principal investigator. Nearly 100 expert clinical investigators attended the meeting, including Dr. Leili Gao (of the Peking University People's Hospital), Dr. Hongwei Jiang (of the First Affiliated Hospital of Henan Medical University), Dr. Zhifeng Cheng (of the Fourth Affiliated Hospital of Harbin Medical University), and Dr. Kun Wang (of Nanjing Jiangning Hospital). QL Biopharm participants included company founders Dr. Xujia Zhang, President & CEO, and Dr. Yuanyuan Zhang, SVP & Head of R&D, in addition to Ms. Xixi Li, Senior Project Manager of Clinical Operations, Dr. Li Liu, Associate Director of Biomedical Affairs, and Dr. Yujie Deng, Senior Medical Manager.
Results from a prior Phase 2 study indicated that after 24 weeks of treatment, mean weight reduction observed with zovaglutide (at a dose of 160 mg administered once every four weeks) was numerically superior to that of the GLP-1 RA drug semaglutide (dosage of 2.4 mg administered by SC injection once weekly), and comparable to that of the GLP-1/GIP dual agonist tirzepatide (dosage of 15 mg administered by SC injection once weekly) at comparable durations of treatment. Zovaglutide also demonstrated a favorable safety and tolerability profile in the prior Phase 2 study, with an overall incidence of gastrointestinal adverse events (AEs) comparable to that of currently-marketed GLP-1 RAs.
About zovaglutide (ZT002)
Zovaglutide is the world's first GLP-1 RA peptide under clinical evaluation for once-monthly SC injection. An innovative, dual-fatty acid chain modification to the peptide significantly enhances its binding affinity to albumin in the blood. This enhanced binding confers a long half-life to the peptide that supports monthly administration. While maintaining safety and efficacy, zovaglutide has the potential to improve patient compliance and become a drug of choice for long-term weight management with a GLP-1 RA agent.
About QL Biopharm
QL Biopharm is a patient-centric, innovative biopharmaceutical company focused on the advancement of innovative medicines for metabolic disorders including obesity, diabetes, MASH and hyperlipidemia. The company is committed to continuously improving patient health and patient quality of life. QL Biopharm currently possesses an end-to-end value chain consisting of capabilities in drug discovery and R&D with bridging functions to in-house manufacturing and commercial production of GMP quality drug material and product. In addition to zovaglutide, QL Biopharm is advancing a diversified pipeline including an oral GLP-1 RA peptide (ZT006), a GLP-1/FGF21 dual-target agonist (ZT003), and a novel single-molecule, long-acting GLP-1/Amylin therapeutic (ZT009). The company benefits from its proprietary E. coli technology platform and further harbors intellectual property rights of its pipeline programs. QL Biopharm has achieved peptide scaling capabilities and a production capacity that surpasses industry standards, thereby affording it significant cost efficiencies.
