Bofanglutide
A Chinese GLP-1 drug long-acting enough for an injection every two weeks, with phase 2 results in obesity and type 2 diabetes
Bofanglutide, developed under the code GZR18, acts on the same receptor as semaglutide but lasts long enough in the blood, about a week by half-life, that most of its trials inject it once every two weeks rather than weekly. In a 30-week Chinese phase 2b trial, adults with obesity lost between about 10% and 17% of their body weight depending on dose, against about 1% on placebo, and in type 2 diabetes it lowered HbA1c at least as much as semaglutide 1 mg. Phase 3 trials are under way; it is not approved anywhere.
Used in human trials: 12, 18, 24 or 48 mg (or 24 mg weekly), Once every two weeks (one group weekly), Subcutaneous (Phase 2b (2026): overweight or obesity) Details ↓
Recommended Dosing
Used in human trials
No manufacturer dose exists for this use: these are amounts given in published trials, not recommendations.
Work out syringe units → · New to syringes? · All dosing data ↓
What is it?
Bofanglutide belongs to the drug family that semaglutide and liraglutide made familiar: peptides that switch on the receptor for GLP-1, a gut hormone released after meals. Activating that receptor raises insulin when glucose is high, lowers glucagon, slows the stomach and reduces appetite. What its developer, Gan & Lee Pharmaceuticals in China, set out to change is the timing. In the first animal paper, published in 2022 under the code GZR18, it bound human serum albumin and the GLP-1 receptor about as well as semaglutide and liraglutide, and its terminal half-life in monkeys was about 61 hours.
In people it lasts longer. The first human study, run in parallel in the United States and China, gave weekly injections to healthy adults and measured a half-life of roughly seven days in both groups, with peak levels two and a half to four days after a dose and no difference between the two populations. A half-life that long is what lets the later trials test an injection every two weeks, against the weekly schedule of semaglutide and tirzepatide.
The weight results come from two trials. In a phase 1b/2a study of 60 Chinese adults with overweight or obesity, weight fell 17.8% on a weekly schedule and 12.8% on a two-weekly one over 35 weeks, against 0.7% on placebo. The larger phase 2b trial randomised 340 adults to one of five dose groups for 30 weeks: average weight loss ranged from 9.75% to 16.69% across the bofanglutide groups and was 1.15% on placebo. Those are large figures for 30 weeks, but they come from Chinese adults with a mean age of 33, and nothing beyond 35 weeks has been published.
In type 2 diabetes, a phase 1b/2a trial in 72 adults found HbA1c fell 1.32 and 1.81 percentage points over about six months on two weekly titration schemes. The phase 2b trial then compared it head to head with semaglutide 1 mg weekly in 272 adults. After 24 weeks HbA1c had fallen 1.87 to 2.32 points with bofanglutide and 1.60 with semaglutide; the 18 mg two-weekly dose and the 24 mg weekly dose beat semaglutide by about 0.7 points. That trial was open-label, so participants and staff knew who was getting what.
The price was the familiar one, paid more often. Stomach and bowel side effects, mostly mild to moderate, were reported in 81.8% to 87.3% of people on bofanglutide in the diabetes trial against 51.9% on semaglutide, and in 83.9% against 33.3% on placebo in the obesity trial. No severe low blood sugar was reported in any trial read. An oral version, mixed with the absorption enhancer SNAC as oral semaglutide is, reached the blood poorly, with relative bioavailability between about 0.6% and 9% depending on dose and how long people fasted afterwards.
For a first-time reader, the plain position is this. Bofanglutide is a pharmaceutical candidate in phase 3 trials, not a product anyone can buy legitimately. Its trial doses are in milligrams, far above the microgram amounts of weekly semaglutide, which reflects a different molecule and formulation, not a transferable number. No published study has tested it outside China except the healthy-volunteer phase 1, and the long half-life means an unwanted effect would last for weeks after a dose.
Mechanism of Action
Bofanglutide activates the GLP-1 receptor, the target of semaglutide; what sets it apart is how long it stays in the blood, not a different action.
Glucose-dependent insulin release
It increased insulin release from mouse islets when glucose was high (PMID 35718129), and lowered HbA1c in people with type 2 diabetes (PMID 42372276).
Appetite and weight
Reduced appetite was among the commonest effects in healthy volunteers, and weight fell in every human trial (PMIDs 40028667, 41760612).
Albumin binding and a long half-life
It binds serum albumin like semaglutide, and its half-life in people is about a week, allowing dosing every two weeks (PMIDs 35718129, 40028667).
Published Research
These are the studies of bofanglutide read from their PubMed abstracts on October 29, 2026: six human trials (phase 1 to phase 2b, injected and oral), a biomarker substudy of one of them, the 2022 animal pharmacology paper and an analytical method that measures it. Two of these name it only as GZR18 or in the abstract; they are carded because the abstract names the drug as the one tested.
Phase 2b in overweight and obesity, 30 weeks
In a double-blind trial of 340 Chinese adults (mean BMI 33.2), five dose groups from 12 mg to 48 mg every two weeks, or 24 mg weekly, were each compared with placebo. Mean weight change at week 30 ran from −9.75% to −16.69% on bofanglutide and was −1.15% on placebo. Adverse events, mostly grade 1 or 2 and gastrointestinal, occurred in 98.9% on the drug and 86.4% on placebo; 84.1% completed.
Against semaglutide in type 2 diabetes
An open-label phase 2b at 37 Chinese sites randomised 272 adults (mean HbA1c 8.35%) to bofanglutide titrated to 12, 18 or 24 mg every two weeks, 24 mg weekly, or semaglutide 1 mg weekly. HbA1c fell 1.87 to 2.32 points with bofanglutide and 1.60 with semaglutide at week 24. Gastrointestinal events occurred in 81.8% to 87.3% against 51.9%; there was no severe hypoglycaemia.
Weekly or two-weekly for weight, phase 1b/2a
Sixty Chinese adults with overweight or obesity were randomised to GZR18 or placebo; 46 finished. In Part B, over 35 weeks, weight fell 17.8% on weekly and 12.8% on two-weekly dosing against 0.7% on placebo; in Part A, over 26 weeks, it fell 9.36%. Side effects were mostly mild to moderate gastrointestinal events, with no serious event linked to the drug.
Weekly dosing in type 2 diabetes, phase 1b/2a
In 72 Chinese adults with type 2 diabetes, two weekly titration schemes (Part A up to 4 mg over 26 weeks; Part B up to 13 mg over 23 weeks) lowered HbA1c by 1.32 and 1.81 points, and body weight also improved. Adverse events were mostly mild to moderate gastrointestinal ones, with no severe hypoglycaemia; 62 participants completed.
First in people, United States and China
Healthy adults in two placebo-controlled dose-escalation studies received weekly injections of 1 to 50 micrograms per kilogram. Exposure rose with dose and matched between the American and Chinese groups; peak levels came 60 to 96 hours after injection and the half-life was about 7 days. Chinese volunteers on the higher doses lost 1.25 to 1.86 kg in two weeks; reduced appetite and nausea were the commonest events.
An oral tablet, phase 1
Ninety-two healthy Chinese adults took oral bofanglutide combined with the absorption enhancer SNAC. Single 30 to 90 mg tablets reached only 0.56% to 1.31% of the exposure of an injection; daily dosing for 14 days with a 60-minute fast after each tablet doubled exposure compared with a 30-minute fast. Side effects were mainly grade 1 gastrointestinal, with no serious events.
Blood markers of who loses most weight
A multi-omics substudy of 25 participants in the phase 2 obesity trial measured proteins, metabolites and lipids in plasma at nine time points over 30 weeks. BMI fell most on 48 mg every two weeks, and the enzyme glycogenin 1 (GYG1) both predicted and tracked response. A small, exploratory analysis that needs testing in other groups.
Animal pharmacology
GZR18 bound albumin and the human GLP-1 receptor about as well as semaglutide and liraglutide and increased glucose-stimulated insulin release from mouse islets. In cynomolgus monkeys its terminal half-life was 61.3 hours. In diabetic db/db mice, repeated doses lowered blood glucose, HbA1c and food intake, without lowering body weight in that model.
A laboratory test that can identify it
A liquid chromatography-high-resolution mass spectrometry method separated and measured nine GLP-1 drugs, bofanglutide among them, with detection limits of about 0.4 to 2 ng/mL. It was applied to marketed liraglutide, semaglutide and tirzepatide; no bofanglutide product was tested.
Dosing Data
Bofanglutide has no approved label anywhere. The rows below are the regimens given in published human trials, taken from the trial abstracts. Every injected trial started low and raised the dose in steps; the abstracts give the target doses, not the full titration schedules. None of these is a recommendation.
Educational information, not medical advice. Each dose above is tagged with its source: an approved label, a published human study, animal data, or amounts reported by users. None is a recommendation for you. An unapproved compound has no established safe or effective human dose, and products sold for “research use only” are not made or tested for people. Talk to a doctor before acting on anything on this site, including before you start, stop or change any medicine or dose. Full medical disclaimer.
What a Buyer Needs to Know
What is sold, how it is mixed, stored and taken, and what is known about its safety, quality and legal status. Each part names its source. Where we have none, it says unknown.
What is sold
Unknown: we hold no label and no published test that says what forms or vial sizes Bofanglutide is sold in. A vial's own label is a seller's claim, not a source.
Mixing a vial: a worked example
An arithmetic example, not a recommendation: a 10 mg vial mixed with 3 mL of bacteriostatic water holds 3,333.3 mcg per mL, so 12 mg, the first amount in the “Phase 2b (2026): overweight or obesity” row (12, 18, 24 or 48 mg (or 24 mg weekly)) would be 360.0 units, more than a 1 mL U-100 syringe holds. Put your own vial's numbers into the reconstitution calculator.
Source: dose: Used in human trials, PMID 41760612 (Dosing Data below); vial and water: the calculator's default example, not a vial size we have a source for.
Storage before and after mixing
Unknown: no label or published stability study on file says how to store Bofanglutide, before or after mixing. The mixing guide sets out the general rules, with their sources: keep a mixed vial in the fridge, and use it promptly, as the bacteriostatic water label says of any drug dissolved in it. The 28 days often quoted is the limit for an opened multiple-dose vial from a manufacturer, an outer limit set for sterility, not a time a mixed solution has been shown to keep. Nobody has published how long Bofanglutide stays intact once mixed.
How it is taken
As it was given in human studies: Subcutaneous (Once every two weeks (one group weekly); Phase 2b (2026): overweight or obesity); Oral (with SNAC) (Single dose, or once daily; Phase 1 (2026): oral tablet, healthy adults).
For injection technique, sites and needle disposal, see the mixing guide.
Source: Used in human trials: the route and frequency of each row in Dosing Data below.
What to expect, and when
How long it stays in the body: a half-life of about 7 days in healthy American and Chinese adults. After about five half-lives almost none is left.
How long the doses were given: Phase 2b (2026): overweight or obesity: 30 weeks; Phase 2b (2026): type 2 diabetes: 24 weeks; Phase 1b/2a (2026): type 2 diabetes: 26 or 23 weeks.
When effects appear: unknown; no source on this page gives a time to effect for Bofanglutide. Results reported in the studies are under Published Research.
Source: half-life: PMID 40028667; Used in human trials, the duration of each row in Dosing Data below.
Side effects, and when to stop or get help
From the Side Effects section: Gastrointestinal events, mostly grade 1 or 2: 83.9% on bofanglutide against 33.3% on placebo in the obesity trial (PMID 41760612); Gastrointestinal events in 81.8% to 87.3% on bofanglutide against 51.9% on semaglutide 1 mg in the diabetes trial (PMID 42372276); Reduced appetite and nausea were the commonest events in healthy volunteers (PMID 40028667); Hypoglycaemia in 0% to 3.8% in the diabetes phase 2b, none severe (PMID 42372276); No serious adverse events linked to the drug in the phase 1b/2a trials (PMIDs 41956096, 42320483). Full list and cautions ↓
When to stop or get help: unknown; no label or trial on file sets rules for stopping Bofanglutide. Treat a severe or unexpected reaction as a reason to stop and see a doctor.
Source: the Side Effects section below (“From the human trials read”).
Interactions
Unknown: a PubMed search for human interaction studies of Bofanglutide (reviewed 2026-10-28) found none. Unknown is not the same as safe to combine.
Every peptide's record, with its source: the interaction matrix.
Checking what you bought
Unknown: no published independent test of Bofanglutide products is in our lab-results database yet, so how products sold under this name measure up is not known.
To read a certificate of analysis, paste it into the COA decoder. Trust & Verification explains what independent testing can and cannot show.
Legal status
US: In Clinical Trials (Not approved anywhere: Drugs@FDA (openFDA) and the EMA medicines list hold no record (October 28, 2026)). Sport: Prohibited (S0 catch-all).
Country by country ↓ · Regulatory tracker
Source: this entry's approval status and the WADA Prohibited List, as in Legal Status below.
Side Effects & Contraindications
Reported Side Effects
From the human trials read.
Contraindications & Cautions
There is no label. These cautions follow from the trials and from the GLP-1 drug class.
Legal Status
Bofanglutide is an investigational drug with phase 3 trials running and no marketing approval anywhere.
Frequently Asked Questions
?What is bofanglutide?
A GLP-1 receptor agonist, the same drug class as semaglutide, developed in China under the code GZR18. Its half-life of about a week lets trials inject it every two weeks.
?How much weight did people lose?
In the 30-week phase 2b trial in Chinese adults with overweight or obesity, average weight loss ranged from 9.75% to 16.69% across dose groups, against 1.15% on placebo.
?Is it better than semaglutide?
In one open-label 24-week trial in type 2 diabetes, two of its four regimens lowered HbA1c about 0.7 points more than semaglutide 1 mg, with more gastrointestinal side effects. No weight trial against semaglutide has been published yet; one comparing it with Wegovy is recruiting.
?Is it approved?
No. It is in phase 3 trials in China, with more planned in Latin America, and has no approval in China, the US or the EU in the records checked on October 28-29, 2026.
?Is there a pill?
An oral tablet with the absorption enhancer SNAC was tested in healthy adults for up to 14 days. Very little reached the blood, about 1% of an injected dose after a single tablet.
?What are the side effects?
Mainly nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea and reduced appetite, more often than with semaglutide in the one comparison. No severe low blood sugar was reported.
References
- [clinical-trial] Ji L, et al. "Efficacy 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." Signal Transduct Target Ther, 2026;11(1). PMID: 41760612.
- [clinical-trial] Liu M, et al. "Weekly and Biweekly Treatment With Bofanglutide Versus Semaglutide in Chinese Patients With Type 2 Diabetes : A Phase 2b Randomized Clinical Trial." Ann Intern Med, 2026;179(8):1107-1116. PMID: 42372276.
- [clinical-trial] Ji L, et al. "GZR18, a GLP-1 analog with once-weekly or bi-weekly dosing for body weight management: A randomized, placebo-controlled, phase 1b/2a trial." Cell Rep Med, 2026;7(4):102743. PMID: 41956096.
- [clinical-trial] Liu M, et al. "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 trial." Cell Rep Med, 2026;7(7):102874. PMID: 42320483.
- [clinical-trial] Liu Y, et al. "The safety, tolerability, pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of GZR18 in healthy American and Chinese adult subjects." Diabetes Obes Metab, 2025;27(5):2777-2789. PMID: 40028667.
- [clinical-trial] Hao X, et al. "Safety, tolerability, relative bioavailability, pharmacokinetics, and pharmacodynamics of single and multiple doses of the novel oral bofanglutide in healthy Chinese participants." Diabetes Res Clin Pract, 2026;239:113437. PMID: 42442555.
- [pubmed] Li L, et al. "GYG1 as a Dual Biomarker of Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Weight-Loss Response: Findings from an Integrative Multi-Omics Substudy of a Phase II Trial." Endocrinol Metab (Seoul), 2026. PMID: 41634531.
- [pubmed] Zhang M, et al. "GZR18, a novel long-acting GLP-1 analog, demonstrated positive in vitro and in vivo pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic characteristics in animal models." Eur J Pharmacol, 2022;928:175107. PMID: 35718129.
- [pubmed] Tong LH, et al. "Development and validation of a multiplexed LC-HRMS method for nine GLP-1 receptor agonists and its pharmaceutical application." J Chromatogr A, 2026;1786:467288. PMID: 42603384.
Sources & Citations
Every study on this page was read from its PubMed record on October 29, 2026. Trial registrations were checked on ClinicalTrials.gov the same day; status from Drugs@FDA (openFDA) and the EMA medicines list, read October 28, 2026. Grey Peptides sells nothing and links to no vendor.
Medical Disclaimer: This content is for educational and informational purposes only. It is not medical advice, and nothing here is an instruction to obtain or use any compound. Talk to a licensed clinician about your own situation.