UBT251

Phase 1 in China (ChiCTR2600116148, ChiCTR2600123803)

• Phase 1a, single doses. Doses tested: one injection of 0.1 to 4.5 mg under the skin (PMID: 42712041). TUL reported that the participants were healthy Chinese adults, that every dose group was safe and well tolerated with no serious adverse events or withdrawals, and that mean maximum weight loss ranged from 3.19 to 4.80 kg in the 1.0 to 4.5 mg groups, more than on placebo (TUL stock exchange announcement, 12 August 2024). The same announcement gives the 137 to 170 hour half-life (TUL stock exchange announcement, 12 August 2024).
• Phase 1b, 12 weeks. Doses tested: 1, 3 and 6 mg once a week for 12 weeks in adults with overweight or obesity and without diabetes (PMID: 42712041). Mean body weight fell by 8.96 to 13.48 kg across these groups, against a 1.57 kg gain on placebo, and fasting plasma glucose, HbA1c and lipids also fell (PMID: 42712041). The most common adverse effects were laboratory test changes, decreased appetite and gastrointestinal events, and blood levels rose roughly in proportion to dose from 1.0 to 6.0 mg (PMID: 42712041). The abstract gives weight change in kilograms only, with no percentages and no group sizes (PMID: 42712041).

Phase 2 in obesity, China (NCT07177469)

• Design. A multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial in 205 adults with overweight or obesity and without type 2 diabetes, 59.0% of them women, aged 18 to 61 (PMID: 42843337). Doses tested: 2 mg, 4 mg (started at 0.5 mg or at 1 mg) or 6 mg once a week, or placebo, for 24 weeks (PMID: 42843337). Entry required a BMI of 28 or more, or 24 to under 28 with a weight-related condition, and mean baseline weight was 92.2 kg with a mean BMI of 33.1 (TUL stock exchange announcement, 24 February 2026). The trial is also registered in China as CTR20250288 (PMID: 42843337).
• Weight. The primary endpoint was percent change in body weight at week 24 (PMID: 42843337). In this China trial, least-squares mean weight loss ranged from 13.6% to 19.7% across the UBT251 groups, against 2.0% on placebo, and the differences from placebo ranged from 11.5 to 17.7 percentage points, all with p<0.001 (PMID: 42843337). Neither the abstract nor the company releases say which dose gave 19.7% (PMID: 42843337; Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026). Novo Nordisk reports that figure, 17.5 kg against 1.6 kg on placebo, under the efficacy estimand (Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026).
• Other measures. UBT251 improved waist circumference, BMI, blood pressure, lipids and blood sugar measures (PMID: 42843337), and Novo Nordisk reports that every dose group improved significantly more than placebo on these secondary endpoints (Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026).
• Safety. The most frequent adverse events were mild to moderate gastrointestinal symptoms (PMID: 42843337). TUL reported no withdrawals because of adverse events and no unexpected safety signals (TUL stock exchange announcement, 24 February 2026). The abstract gives no adverse event rates by dose group and no share of people reaching 5, 10, 15 or 20% weight loss (PMID: 42843337).
• A closer reading of this trial and its numbers is in UBT251 phase 2 results.

Phase 2 in type 2 diabetes, China (NCT07163624)

• Design. 211 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes treated with lifestyle measures alone or with metformin, with a mean baseline HbA1c of 8.12%, weight of 80.1 kg and BMI of 29.1 (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026). Doses tested: 2, 4 or 6 mg once a week, against placebo or semaglutide 1 mg, for 24 weeks, with HbA1c change at week 24 as the primary endpoint (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026; NCT07163624).
• Results, company figures only. HbA1c fell by up to 2.16 percentage points with UBT251, against 1.77 with semaglutide and 0.66 with placebo, and body weight fell by up to 9.8%, against 4.8% and 1.4% (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026). TUL called the HbA1c result significantly better than both comparators but released no confidence intervals or p-values (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026). Novo Nordisk footnotes only the weight figures as estimated from an analysis of covariance under the efficacy estimand (Novo Nordisk press release, 25 March 2026). TUL said the safety profile appeared consistent with other trials of triple agonists (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026). PubMed listed no paper on this trial on 24 October 2026 (PubMed search for UBT251, 24 October 2026).

Phase 3 in China

• Obesity (NCT07648225). Doses being tested: 4 mg and 6 mg once a week against placebo for 52 weeks in 600 adults without diabetes, under the same BMI entry rules as phase 2, with percent weight change at week 52 as the primary endpoint (NCT07648225). TUL announced on 4 September 2026 that the first participant had been dosed, and its announcement also names the share of people losing at least 5% of body weight as an endpoint (TUL stock exchange announcement, 4 September 2026). The registry entry still shows an estimated start date of 31 July 2026 (NCT07648225).
• Type 2 diabetes, UNIGUIDE-1 (NCT07659574). Doses being tested: 2, 4 and 6 mg against placebo in 360 adults with HbA1c of 7.5 to 10.5% who manage their diabetes with diet and exercise alone (NCT07659574). The primary endpoint is HbA1c change at week 40 (NCT07659574).
• Type 2 diabetes, UNIGUIDE-2 (NCT07653477). Doses being tested: 2, 4 and 6 mg against open-label semaglutide in 956 adults on metformin, alone or with a sulfonylurea or an SGLT2 inhibitor, with HbA1c of 7.5 to 11.0% (NCT07653477). The trial tests whether UBT251 is no worse than semaglutide on HbA1c at week 40 (NCT07653477). Both diabetes trials list 7 September 2026 as their start date, and TUL announced first dosing in its phase 3 diabetes study, which covers both trials (NCT07659574; NCT07653477; TUL stock exchange announcement, 7 September 2026).
• Obstructive sleep apnea, UNISHAPE-OSA-1 (NCT07767942) and UNISHAPE-OSA-2 (NCT07806851). Each plans to enroll 150 adults with a BMI of 28 or more and moderate to severe sleep apnea, the first in people not using positive airway pressure treatment and the second in people who use it (NCT07767942; NCT07806851). Each compares two UBT251 dose groups with placebo, and UNISHAPE-OSA-1 measures change in the apnea-hypopnea index at week 52 (NCT07767942; NCT07806851). Their planned start dates are 18 September and 10 October 2026, and neither had opened recruitment by 24 October 2026 (NCT07767942; NCT07806851).

Phase 2 in kidney disease and MASH, China

• Chronic kidney disease with overweight or obesity (NCT07134335). Three UBT251 dose groups are compared with placebo in 180 adults with an eGFR of 45 to under 90 and a urine albumin-to-creatinine ratio (UACR) of 300 to 5000 mg/g, with change in log UACR at week 24 as the primary endpoint (NCT07134335). The trial is recruiting, with primary completion listed for July 2030 (NCT07134335).
• MASH (NCT07145151). Doses being tested: 2, 4 and 6 mg against placebo in 156 adults with biopsy-confirmed metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis and F2 to F3 fibrosis, with MASH resolution without worsening of fibrosis at week 48 as the primary endpoint (NCT07145151). The trial is recruiting, with primary completion listed for June 2027 (NCT07145151).

Novo Nordisk's trials outside China

• Obesity (NCT07395687). Novo Nordisk calls this a global phase 1b/2a trial of different UBT251 doses for up to 28 weeks in around 330 people with overweight or obesity, with topline data expected in 2027 (Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026). The registry lists it as phase 2 with 333 participants at two US sites and one Canadian site: Part A measures adverse events to week 33, Part B percent weight change at week 28 and Part C pharmacokinetics in Japanese, Chinese and non-Asian participants (NCT07395687). It started on 2 February 2026, and the registry does not list the UBT251 doses (NCT07395687).
• Type 2 diabetes dose-finding (NCT07668388). UBT251 is compared with placebo and with semaglutide in 300 adults on metformin with or without an SGLT2 inhibitor, with HbA1c of 7.0 to 10.5% and BMI of 25 to 50, at sites in the US, Australia, Germany, Hungary, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, South Korea and Spain (NCT07668388). The primary endpoint is HbA1c change after 12 weeks on a maintenance dose (NCT07668388). It started on 22 June 2026, with primary completion listed for October 2027, and the registry does not list the UBT251 doses (NCT07668388).
• Phase 1 drug interaction trials. Novo Nordisk is testing UBT251 with an oral contraceptive, using acetaminophen to measure gastric emptying (NCT07710729), and with warfarin, caffeine and midazolam (NCT07710768). United Bio-Technology runs a third in China, with metformin, warfarin, atorvastatin and digoxin (NCT07785934). All three were recruiting on 24 October 2026 (ClinicalTrials.gov search for UBT251, 24 October 2026).
• Milestones. TUL reported milestone payments from Novo Nordisk of $13.5 million, received on 15 July 2026, for the global phase 2 obesity trial, and $9.0 million, received on 23 September 2026, for the global phase 2 type 2 diabetes trial, each after Danish withholding tax (TUL stock exchange announcements, 16 July 2026 and 24 September 2026).

Gaps in the public record

These do not appear in the developer's filings, the two abstracts, the company releases or the registry records:

• UBT251's amino acid sequence or structure (TUL stock exchange announcements, 2023 to 2026; PMID: 42712041, PMID: 42843337).
• A peer-reviewed half-life. The 137 to 170 hour figure comes from the developer (TUL stock exchange announcement, 12 August 2024).
• Which dose group produced the 19.7% mean weight loss at 24 weeks in the China phase 2 obesity trial, a figure Novo Nordisk reports under the efficacy estimand (PMID: 42843337; Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026).
• Adverse event rates by dose group from either phase 2 trial (PMID: 42843337; TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026).
• Any result beyond 24 weeks of treatment, because no phase 3 trial had reported by 24 October 2026 (ClinicalTrials.gov search for UBT251, 24 October 2026).

The developer and Novo Nordisk add details that have not been through peer review. TUL reported no serious adverse events and no withdrawals in the single-dose phase 1a trial, with mild to moderate loss of appetite and gastrointestinal events as the common side effects (TUL stock exchange announcement, 12 August 2024). For the phase 2 obesity trial, TUL reported no withdrawals because of adverse events and no unexpected safety signals (TUL stock exchange announcement, 24 February 2026), and Novo Nordisk said most gastrointestinal events were mild to moderate and "diminished over time" (Novo Nordisk press release, 24 February 2026). For the phase 2 type 2 diabetes trial, TUL said the safety profile appeared consistent with other trials of triple agonists (TUL stock exchange announcement, 25 March 2026).

What is not known

The published abstracts and the company releases give no rates of nausea, vomiting, diarrhea or heart rate change by dose group, so UBT251's side effects cannot be compared fairly with those of retatrutide or tirzepatide (PMID: 42843337, PMID: 42712041). The longest completed UBT251 trials lasted 24 weeks, and no phase 3 trial had reported safety data by 24 October 2026 (NCT07177469; NCT07163624; NCT07648225).