On September 30, 2026, Hangzhou Sciwind Biosciences presented new Phase 1b data at the 62nd EASD Annual Meeting in Milan on ecnoglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist already approved in China for adults, tested for the first time in adolescents with obesity.

What the Trial Tested

The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled study enrolled 48 adolescents with obesity, ages 12 to 17, assigned to one of three ecnoglutide doses (1.2 mg, 1.8 mg, or 2.4 mg weekly) or placebo, over 20 weeks. This site's guide to ecnoglutide covers the drug's mechanism and regulatory status in more detail; the short version is that it's described as a "cAMP-biased" GLP-1 receptor agonist, a chemical design intended to engage the GLP-1 receptor's signaling pathway somewhat differently than semaglutide or liraglutide, though the clinical significance of that distinction in adolescents specifically is exactly what this early-phase trial is meant to start answering.

Results

Across the active-dose groups, BMI fell by 11.2% to 12.6% by week 20, compared with no meaningful change in the placebo group. Body weight dropped 10.4% to 12.1% in the treated groups, versus a 1.2% increase on placebo. The company also reported improvements in metabolic markers including HbA1c, triglycerides, and blood pressure. On safety, Sciwind reported no serious adverse events; gastrointestinal symptoms like nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting occurred but were described as mostly mild and transient.

Why Adolescent Data Specifically Matters

Pediatric and adolescent obesity trials are their own distinct regulatory and clinical category, not just a smaller-dose version of an adult trial. This site's guide to GLP-1 medications and pediatric use covers which GLP-1-class drugs currently carry FDA approval for adolescent use (liraglutide and semaglutide both have pediatric indications in the U.S.) and what that approval process requires. Ecnoglutide has no FDA approval for any U.S. use, adult or adolescent; it's approved in China for adults, and this Phase 1b data represents an early step, not a completed development program, toward adolescent use anywhere.

What Phase 1b Does and Doesn't Establish

A Phase 1b trial is primarily designed to establish safety and tolerability in a target population, with efficacy signals like weight loss treated as preliminary rather than confirmatory. A sample size of 48 participants split across four groups, roughly a dozen per arm, is far too small to reliably estimate real-world effect sizes or catch uncommon side effects. Confirmatory evidence would require larger, longer Phase 2 and Phase 3 trials specifically designed and powered to test efficacy and monitor safety in adolescents, the same pathway this site's guide to clinical trial phases describes for adult drug development.

The Bottom Line

This is genuine, newly presented clinical data on a real and ongoing question, whether and how GLP-1-class drugs should be used in adolescents, but it's early-stage data from a small, short trial on a drug with no U.S. approval in any age group. Parents and clinicians considering any GLP-1 medication for a minor should rely on FDA-approved, more thoroughly studied options and a pediatrician's guidance rather than investigational compounds still in early trials.