New Nature Communications Publication Highlights Efsubaglutide Alfa’s Effects on Glycaemia and β-Cell Function

May 13, 2026 |

2 min read

HONG KONG, May 12, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- A major new clinical study, SUPER 2, has been published in Nature Communications, reporting that Efsubaglutide Alfa, a long-acting GLP-1 receptor agonist, significantly improved glycaemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes inadequately controlled on metformin, while also demonstrating favorable β-cell functional responses.

The study was led by Academician Weiping Jia and co-corresponded by Professor Qinghua Wang, Distinguished Professor of Fudan University, Founder of Innogen Pharmaceuticals, and inventor of Efsubaglutide Alfa. The publication marks another important milestone in the clinical development of Efsubaglutide Alfa and provides further mechanistic insights into its therapeutic value beyond glucose lowering.

SUPER 2 was a randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, two-stage adaptive phase IIb/III trial evaluating Efsubaglutide Alfa as add-on therapy to metformin in patients with type 2 diabetes. The results showed that Efsubaglutide Alfa significantly improved HbA1c and other key glycaemic measures, with an overall safety profile consistent with the GLP-1 receptor agonist class, with mainly mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal adverse events.

Importantly, the study went beyond conventional efficacy endpoints and further examined β-cell functional responses using mixed-meal tolerance testing and related metabolic indices. Treatment with Efsubaglutide Alfa was associated with improved postprandial insulin and C-peptide responses, improvement in β-cell function-related parameters, and favorable changes in indices reflecting the integrated relationship between insulin secretion and insulin sensitivity. These findings suggest that the clinical benefit of Efsubaglutide Alfa may extend beyond glycaemic control to partial improvement of the underlying pathophysiology of type 2 diabetes.

This mechanistic signal is particularly meaningful in light of the team's earlier Diabetes Remission study, published in Advances in Therapy, which showed that Efsubaglutide Alfa treatment in drug-naïve patients with type 2 diabetes was associated with remission in a proportion of patients after treatment withdrawal. The SUPER 2 data now provide larger-scale clinical support for the concept that improvement in β-cell function may contribute to the longer-term disease-modifying potential of Efsubaglutide Alfa.

Innogen Pharmaceuticals is an innovation-driven biopharmaceutical company focused on the discovery, development, and translation of novel therapies for diabetes and other metabolic diseases. The publication of SUPER 2 in Nature Communications not only strengthens the clinical evidence base for Efsubaglutide Alfa, but also highlights the value of integrating mechanistic science, clinical development, and translational medicine to advance next-generation therapies for metabolic diseases.