Noiiglutide
Noiiglutide (SHR20004), long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
Also known as: SHR20004
A Chinese long-acting GLP-1 agonist with published randomised multiple-dose data in obesity and a completed phase 3 in type 2 diabetes. Part of a development stream Western coverage largely ignores.
Overview
A substantial amount of GLP-1 development happens in China and is published in the same journals as everything else, and Western coverage of this field mostly proceeds as though it does not exist. Noiiglutide is one of several such programmes the catalogue now carries.
It is a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist from Jiangsu Hengrui, with published randomised safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic data from multiple-dose studies in Chinese participants with obesity, and a completed phase 3 in type 2 diabetes.
The reason to include it is not that it is better than what is approved, which nobody has shown. It is that a reader looking at this field should know the pipeline is wider than the two or three names that dominate coverage, and that a drug being unfamiliar is not the same as it being unstudied.
Mechanism of action
A long-acting agonist at the GLP-1 receptor, engineered for extended duration to allow infrequent subcutaneous dosing. Signalling is the same as the rest of the class: glucose-dependent insulin secretion, suppressed glucagon, delayed gastric emptying and reduced appetite through central GLP-1 receptors.
Human evidence
Published randomised multiple-dose data in obesity and a completed phase 3 in type 2 diabetes. Early-to-middle stage evidence with no head-to-head against an approved agent.
- Randomised multiple-dose study in Chinese participants with obesity reporting safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics.
- A phase 3 in type 2 diabetes has been completed.
- No head-to-head trial against semaglutide, tirzepatide or any approved agent was located.
- Development is concentrated in China, which is where most of this programme's regulatory future lies.
What this does not tell you: Safety, pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic endpoints tell you a drug behaves as designed; they do not establish that it is as good as or better than what already exists. Without a head-to-head, the only honest statement is that this is another functioning GLP-1 agonist. Trials conducted entirely in one population also leave open how the results transfer, which is a caveat that applies equally to Western trials conducted entirely in Western populations and is applied far less often in that direction.
Reading the research record
This page exists mainly to correct a distortion in how the field is covered rather than to advocate for a compound.
Read most English-language writing about GLP-1 drugs and you would conclude there are perhaps four of them. In fact there is a large parallel development stream, much of it Chinese, publishing randomised trials in the same journals as everyone else. This site now carries several of those programmes.
What none of them has is a head-to-head against an approved agent, so nothing here suggests any of them is better. The point is narrower and worth making: a drug being unfamiliar to a Western reader is not the same as it being unstudied, and a catalogue claiming to document what has been measured should reflect what has actually been measured rather than what has been marketed loudly.
The evidence, charted
Fig. 1 · evidence composition
2of 2 citations (100%) are in people
Every citation cited here is Human work; no other study type is cited on this page. This count is of our own citation list and understates any literature larger than the sources we cite.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Citations here span just two years, 2025 and 2026.
Too few distinct publication years on this page to plot as a timeline.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Approved
AU
Approved
CA
Not approved
Approved in 2 of 4, prescription route in 0, not approved in 2. A jurisdiction's classification is a regulatory fact, not a verdict on the science; see Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · dose response
No human dose response curve exists
We draw this figure where the data supports it. For this compound in humans it does not, so the panel stays empty rather than borrowing an animal curve and implying it transfers.
Key studies & citations
- Human2025
Safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of multiple-dose noiiglutide (SHR20004), a novel GLP-1 receptor agonist, in Chinese obese subjects
A randomised controlled multiple-dose study in Chinese participants with obesity, reporting safety, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics. Peer-reviewed in a mainstream journal, which is worth noting given how often non-Western development is treated as though it were unpublished.
Diabetes, Obesity and Metabolism - Human2026
Safety and efficacy of GZR18, a long-acting GLP-1 analog, in Chinese patients with type 2 diabetes: a randomized, double-blind, phase 1b/2a study
A parallel Chinese long-acting GLP-1 programme, bofanglutide, published in a high-profile journal. Included as context for the breadth of this development stream rather than as evidence about noiiglutide itself.
Cell Reports Medicine
Frequently asked questions
Is noiiglutide better than semaglutide?
Nobody has run that comparison, so there is no basis for saying so. What exists is randomised multiple-dose data in obesity and a completed phase 3 in type 2 diabetes, which establishes that it works as a GLP-1 agonist rather than that it works better than one already approved.
Why is a Chinese drug on this site?
Because its trials are randomised and published in the same peer-reviewed journals as everything else here, and a catalogue claiming to document what has been measured should not filter by where the measuring happened. There is a large parallel development stream in this class that most English-language coverage omits entirely.
Can I get it?
Not legally outside its development markets. It is not approved in the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia or Canada.