Vincentage has filed a marketing authorisation application with its China homeland's Centre for Drug Evaluation (CDE) for VCT220, an oral, non-peptide small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, positioning it as the first domestically developed candidate of its class to reach the New Drug Application (NDA) stage in China.

In the Phase III VCT220-III-01 study, patients receiving 120 mg and 160 mg once-daily achieved mean weight reductions of 12.2% and 12.4% at week 52 versus 1.3% for placebo, with mostly mild gastrointestinal adverse events and low discontinuation rates (1.8% in both active arms). No hepatic safety signals were observed, and the formulation requires no fasting, fixed timing, or cold-chain storage.

VCT220 is designed for long-term obesity management with improved adherence versus injectable analogues. In December 2025, compatriot Corxel Pharmaceuticals secured ex-Greater China development and commercialisation rights. Whilst Hengrui Pharmaceuticals' safiglipron recently completed Phase III testing, Vincentage's filing currently leads the domestic small-molecule GLP-1 race to the regulator, highlighting growing diversification beyond peptide-based incretin mimics in China's metabolic disease market.

PharmCube's NextBiopharm® database shows that the GLP-1R agonist race is intensifying, with three candidates showing competitive 10% weight loss efficacy during last month alone. Click here to request a free trial for NextBiopharm®.