Bofanglutide dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
In a mid-stage study of 272 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, it lowered average blood sugar more than a 1 mg dose of semaglutide. It also caused far more stomach trouble. Stomach side effects hit 82 to 87 percent of people on it, against 52 percent on semaglutide. No large final-stage study has reported yet.
Evidence grade for Bofanglutide: Moderate. The rule: at least one finished study in people, and at least 100 people who took it. The sum on this page: 5 completed trials, 750 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 750
- Human studies
- 5
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
5 completed trials, 750 people given it
4 effects reported, 2 unwanted, 2 wanted, by people using it, not a trial
Goal pages: Fat loss and metabolism
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Bofanglutide is a weight and blood sugar shot from China. It is in the same family as Ozempic. It is built to be taken once every two weeks, not once a week. It is not approved anywhere yet.
What people take it for
- Lower blood sugar in type 2 diabetes.
- Weight loss.
- Fewer shots, since it may only need one every two weeks.
What studies in people showed
Two mid-sized studies in China tested it. In 340 overweight adults, weight fell between 9.75 and 16.69 percent over 30 weeks. People on a dummy shot lost 1.15 percent. In 272 adults with type 2 diabetes, it went up against semaglutide. Blood sugar fell a bit more on bofanglutide. But stomach problems hit 82 to 87 percent of people on it, against 52 percent on semaglutide. Everyone in that study knew which drug they got. The maker paid for both studies. No big final study has reported.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- In the weight study, people lost between 9.75 and 16.69 percent of their body weight in 30 weeks.
- Low blood sugar was rare in the diabetes study.
The bad
- Stomach side effects are very common. In the weight study, 83.9 percent of people on the drug had them, against 33.3 percent on the dummy shot.
- 98.9 percent of people on the drug had at least one side effect, though most were mild.
- We have not collected user reports on this one yet.
Where these come from: The side effects come from the studies on this page. We have no forum or user reports on this drug.
My bottom line
The numbers look good, but it is not approved and the stomach side effects are heavy. Anything sold online under this name is not the drug from the studies. I would wait.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Measured in people
Goals Bofanglutide has been tested for in people, biggest studies first. We count only what the studies on this page say, so the real numbers may be higher.
- Losing weight386 people · 2 studies
- Blood sugar and insulin272 people · 1 study
- Feeling less hungryno headcount stated · 1 study
33 of the 36 indexed goals have no study of any kind behind Bofanglutide
No study in people, animals or cells on this page reports a result for these. That does not prove Bofanglutide does nothing for them. It does mean anything you have heard about Bofanglutide and one of these did not come from a study cited here.
Show full evidence
What is Bofanglutide?
In a mid-stage study of 272 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, it lowered average blood sugar more than a 1 mg dose of semaglutide. It also caused far more stomach trouble. Stomach side effects hit 82 to 87 percent of people on it, against 52 percent on semaglutide. No large final-stage study has reported yet.
Bofanglutide is a GLP-1 shot, the same drug family as Ozempic. It is made by Gan and Lee Pharmaceuticals in Beijing and was first called GZR18. It is built to be taken once every two weeks instead of once a week. Do not mix it up with HEC88473. That is a different drug from a different company, and it has its own page on this site.
Two mid-stage studies in people are out, both from 2026. There are also earlier, smaller studies. That is a lot of human data for a drug most Western readers have never heard of. But there is still no large final-stage study.
The diabetes study is the interesting one. It put bofanglutide up against semaglutide, not against a dummy shot. Over 24 weeks, average blood sugar (HbA1c) fell 1.87 to 2.32 points on bofanglutide, against 1.60 on semaglutide 1 mg. Bofanglutide came out ahead.
The side effects should cool the excitement. Stomach problems hit 81.8 to 87.3 percent of people on bofanglutide, against 51.9 percent on semaglutide. Everyone knew which drug they got. The study lasted 24 weeks and only included Chinese adults. The authors list all of that as limits.
A pill version has also been through a small early study. Less than one and a half percent of a single swallowed dose reached the blood. That is normal for peptide pills. It is why the pill doses are tens of milligrams while the shot is under a milligram.
How does Bofanglutide work?
It copies the gut hormone GLP-1, which tells your body a meal has arrived. It helps the pancreas release insulin when blood sugar is high. It holds back glucagon, a hormone that raises blood sugar. It slows how fast the stomach empties, and it turns down hunger in the brain. It is built to last. In healthy American and Chinese adults, the body took about seven days to clear half of it. That is what makes a shot every two weeks possible, instead of every week like semaglutide and dulaglutide. The pill version is mixed with SNAC, the same absorption helper used in the semaglutide pill. It briefly lets more of the drug through the stomach wall.
What have studies in people found about Bofanglutide?
Two mid-stage studies are published. One was in type 2 diabetes, against semaglutide. One was in weight loss, against a dummy shot. There are also smaller early studies, including one with healthy American adults. No large final-stage study has reported.
- Weight study, 340 people, 30 weeks, against a dummy shot where nobody knew who got what: weight fell 9.75 to 16.69 percent on the drug, against 1.15 percent on the dummy.
- Diabetes study, 272 people, 24 weeks, against semaglutide 1 mg, where everyone knew which drug they got: average blood sugar (HbA1c) fell 1.87 to 2.32 points on bofanglutide, against 1.60 on semaglutide.
- Stomach side effects hit 81.8 to 87.3 percent in the diabetes study, against 51.9 percent on semaglutide. In the weight study it was 83.9 percent, against 33.3 percent on the dummy shot.
- An early study in healthy adults found the body clears half the drug in about seven days. American and Chinese adults handled it the same way.
- A pill version has finished an early study. Less than one and a half percent of a single swallowed dose reached the blood.
What this does not tell you: Every study that tested whether it works was mid-stage, run in China and paid for by the maker. Some authors work for the maker, and one owns its shares. In the diabetes study, everyone knew which drug they got. That matters, because the main side effect, feeling sick, is something people report themselves. The semaglutide group got 1 mg, not the 2 mg dose approved for diabetes in several countries. So bofanglutide was up against a lower dose. And nobody has checked for effects on heart attacks or strokes.
The state of the research
It is unusual, and worth credit, to test a drug against semaglutide this early. Most companies test against a dummy shot first, where a win is almost certain. They put off the comparison that actually helps doctors choose.
But read the study the way the authors wrote it, not the headline. Everyone knew who got which drug. The main result was a lab number, but the main side effect, feeling sick, was something people reported themselves. The semaglutide group topped out at 1 mg. And stomach problems were much more common on bofanglutide. That is the trade anyone choosing between them would face.
Two large final-stage studies are registered. One is in type 2 diabetes. One compares bofanglutide with semaglutide in overweight adults in Latin America. Neither had started signing people up at the time of this review. Until one reports, this is a mid-stage drug.
One warning applies to every drug on this page. Chinese diabetes and weight drugs carry several names at once. There is a company code, a Chinese brand name, an official generic name given later, and sometimes a partner's code after a licensing deal. Those names rarely show up together in one place. So a search on the code may find only animal studies, while the human studies sit under the generic name, or the other way round. If a drug looks like it has thin evidence, check its other names first.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
750people, across 4 studies in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Signal Transduction and Targeted Therapy 2026 | 340 | 45% |
| Annals of Internal Medicine 2026 | 272 | 36% |
| Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice 2026 | 92 | 12% |
| Cell Reports Medicine 2026 | 46 | 6% |
Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. 1 more study in people gives no headcount and is not counted here. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
All 5 sources here are studies in people.
- Study in people · done in people5100%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Sources here come from just two years, 2025 and 2026.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- An engineered long-acting GLP-1 analogue. No mass is asserted here; no source loaded states one.
- Half-life
- About 7 daysLong, 1 to 7 days
- Chain length
- None on file
No amino acid sequence is on file for Bofanglutide, so none is drawn rather than guessed from a name.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2026Weekly and Biweekly Treatment With Bofanglutide Versus Semaglutide in Chinese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Phase 2b Randomized Clinical Trial
It matched semaglutide on blood sugar and cost people far more stomach trouble. 272 adults with type 2 diabetes at 37 Chinese hospitals took bofanglutide or semaglutide, and everybody knew which. By week 24 average blood sugar had fallen 1.87 to 2.32 points on bofanglutide, against 1.60 on semaglutide. Stomach side effects hit 82 to 87 percent of the bofanglutide groups against 52 percent on semaglutide. Low blood sugar stayed rare. The trial was short, everyone was Chinese, and the maker paid for it.
Open-label phase 2b trial at 37 Chinese sites, 272 adults with type 2 diabetes, mean baseline glycated haemoglobin 8.35 percent. At week 24 the change from baseline was minus 1.87, minus 2.28 and minus 1.94 percentage points for bofanglutide 12, 18 and 24 mg every two weeks, minus 2.32 for 24 mg weekly, and minus 1.60 for semaglutide 1 mg weekly. Gastrointestinal adverse events, mostly grade 1 or 2, occurred in 81.8 to 87.3 percent of bofanglutide participants against 51.9 percent on semaglutide. Hypoglycaemia occurred in 0 to 3.8 percent versus 1.9 percent, none severe. The authors list open-label design, short duration and an all-Chinese population as limitations. Funded by Gan and Lee Pharmaceuticals.
- Study in people2026Efficacy and safety of bofanglutide, a GLP-1 receptor agonist, in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity: a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 2b trial
It took off serious weight in overweight Chinese adults, and almost everyone had side effects. 340 adults averaging 95.6 kg were split by chance across five doses or a dummy, and nobody knew which. Over 30 weeks weight fell between 9.75 and 16.69 percent on the drug, against 1.15 percent on the dummy. Side effects hit 98.9 percent of the treated group against 86.4 percent, mostly mild stomach ones. 84.1 percent finished. Several authors work for the maker or hold its shares.
Double-blind placebo-controlled phase 2b trial, 340 Chinese adults with overweight or obesity, mean age 33.1 years and mean weight 95.6 kg, randomised across five dose groups. Mean percentage change in body weight from baseline to week 30 ranged from minus 9.75 to minus 16.69 percent with bofanglutide against minus 1.15 percent with placebo. Adverse events occurred in 98.9 percent of the bofanglutide group against 86.4 percent of placebo and were mostly grade 1 to 2 gastrointestinal events, in 83.9 percent against 33.3 percent. 84.1 percent completed the trial. Several authors are Gan and Lee employees or shareholders.
- Study in people2026GZR18, a GLP-1 analog with once-weekly or bi-weekly dosing for body weight management: A randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 1b/2a trial
This was a small early study to find the right dose. It does not tell you how well the drug works. Sixty people signed up and 46 finished. In the second part, weight fell 17.8 percent on weekly shots and 12.8 percent on shots every two weeks, against 0.7 percent on a dummy shot. The first part moved the same way, by less. With only 46 people finishing, these numbers are not reliable. The authors say so, and call for bigger and longer studies.
The earlier and much smaller weight-management trial under the development code. Sixty participants enrolled, 46 completed. Least-squares mean change in body weight was minus 9.36 percent for GZR18 against 6.68 percent for placebo in part A, and minus 17.8 percent weekly and minus 12.8 percent every two weeks against 0.7 percent for placebo in part B. With 46 completers this is a dose-finding exercise, not an efficacy result, and the authors say as much in concluding that larger and longer trials are warranted.
- Study in people2025The safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of GZR18 in healthy American and Chinese adult subjects
This study measured how the drug behaves in blood, not whether it helps anyone. Healthy American and Chinese adults took steadily rising doses. The body took about seven days to clear half of it in both groups, and the amount reaching the blood was near identical, so no difference between the two populations showed up. Losing appetite and feeling sick were the commonest complaints. This is the only study in the whole programme that included any American participants at all.
Phase 1 dose-escalation studies in healthy American and Chinese adults. Half-life was approximately seven days in both populations and exposure was comparable between them, with geometric mean ratios for area under the curve and maximum concentration close to 1, so no ethnic pharmacokinetic difference was detected. Decreased appetite and nausea were the most frequent treatment-emergent events. This is the only study in the programme that included American participants at all.
- Study in people2026Safety, tolerability, relative bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple doses of the novel oral bofanglutide in healthy Chinese participants
Swallowed instead of injected, almost none of this drug gets into the blood. 92 healthy Chinese people took an oral form mixed with an absorption helper. At 30 and 60 mg, 0.56 percent of the dose made it in. At 90 mg, 1.31 percent did. On repeated daily dosing, waiting 60 minutes before eating roughly doubled the amount absorbed compared with waiting 30. Most side effects were mild stomach ones. Nothing here tests whether it works. It only measures how much gets in.
Phase 1 study of an oral formulation co-formulated with the permeation enhancer SNAC, in 92 healthy Chinese participants across two parts. Single-dose relative bioavailability was 0.56 percent at 30 and 60 mg and 1.31 percent at 90 mg. On repeated daily dosing a 60 minute post-dose fast produced roughly twice the exposure of a 30 minute fast, 9.22 percent against 4.88 percent apparent relative bioavailability. Most adverse events were grade 1 gastrointestinal. This is a pharmacokinetic study; it reports no efficacy endpoint.
Where to buy Bofanglutide
No seller we track lists Bofanglutide yet. We read sellers’ public product lists every week, and this section fills in as soon as one does. Every seller, graded
Common questions
Has Bofanglutide been tested in people?
Yes. 750 people given it across 5 completed trials cited here, 0 of which found nothing. In a mid-stage study of 272 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, it lowered average blood sugar more than a 1 mg dose of semaglutide. It also caused far more stomach trouble. Stomach side effects hit 82 to 87 percent of people on it, against 52 percent on semaglutide. No large final-stage study has reported yet.
What is the Bofanglutide dosage?
No human dose established. Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose. 5 completed trials, 750 people given it
Is Bofanglutide FDA-approved?
Not approved in the United States or anywhere else. Two mid-stage studies are published. Two final-stage studies are registered but had not started signing up patients when we reviewed it.
Is bofanglutide better than semaglutide?
In one study of 272 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, it lowered average blood sugar more than semaglutide 1 mg over 24 weeks. Everyone knew which drug they got. It also caused stomach side effects in 82 to 87 percent of people, against 52 percent on semaglutide. That is one mid-stage study, in one country, against a lower semaglutide dose. There is no large final-stage study and no heart data.
Is bofanglutide the same as HEC88473?
No. HEC88473 comes from a different company and works on two hormone signals, GLP-1 and FGF21. It has only been through one first small safety study in people. Bofanglutide, first called GZR18, is a GLP-1 drug from Gan and Lee with two published mid-stage studies. People mix them up because both are Chinese GLP-1 drugs with a letter-and-number code.
Can I get it?
No. It is not approved in any country. Two large final-stage studies are registered. Neither had started signing people up at the time of this review.
Why every two weeks instead of weekly?
In healthy adults, the body takes about seven days to clear half of it. That is roughly twice as long as semaglutide, which is what makes a shot every two weeks possible. The studies tested weekly and every-two-weeks doses side by side. In the diabetes study, the weekly 24 mg dose lowered blood sugar the most.
What about the oral version?
It has finished one early study in healthy Chinese adults. It uses the same absorption helper as the semaglutide pill. Less than one and a half percent of a single swallowed dose reached the blood. Waiting longer before eating roughly doubled how much got in. Nobody has published a study of whether the pill works.