RESHAPING THE INJECTABLE LANDSCAPE: NOVEL METABOLIC THERAPIES, EXPANDING PATIENT REACH, AND RISING TECHNICAL COMPLEXITY FOR DRUG DELIVERY DEVICE PLATFORMS
Published: 19/10/2026
Breakthrough diabetes & obesity treatments driving a new standard of care.
The treatment landscape for obesity and type 2 diabetes is rapidly evolving beyond traditional GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) receptor agonists, which have demonstrated substantial benefits on body weight, glycaemic control, and cardiovascular outcomes. Novel therapies increasingly target multiple metabolic pathways simultaneously, including GIP (glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide) and glucagon receptors. Dual and triple agonists, such as GLP-1/GIP and GLP-1/GIP/glucagon combinations, aim to harness complementary mechanisms: GLP-1 reduces appetite and delays gastric emptying, GIP may enhance insulin secretion and improve adipose tissue metabolism, while glucagon receptor activation can increase energy expenditure and promote fat oxidation. This multi-receptor approach seeks to achieve greater weight loss and metabolic improvements than GLP-1 monotherapy, positioning next-generation incretin therapies as potential standards of care for obesity and cardiometabolic disease.
Beyond incretins, several new hormonal pathways are attracting significant interest. Amylin receptor agonists mimic the pancreatic hormone amylin, enhancing satiety, reducing food intake, and potentially complementing GLP-1-based therapies.NPY2 receptor agonists, which act through peptide YY (PYY)-related pathways, target appetite regulation at the level of the hypothalamus and gut-brain axis, offering another strategy to suppress hunger and improve weight management. Meanwhile, UCN2 (urocortin-2), acting through corticotropin-releasing factor receptor type 2 (CRFR2), has shown potential to improve insulin sensitivity, glucose utilization, and znergy metabolism in preclinical and early clinical studies.
Amylin is naturally produced by pancreatic beta cells and is released alongside insulin. Unlike GLP-1 therapies, amylin works primarily by increasing feelings of fullness (satiety), slowing stomach emptying, reducing post-meal glucagon secretion, helping control post-meal blood sugar spikes and food intake. Amylin is not new, the first one demonstrated benefits, but had limited uptake because it required frequent injections and offered modest efficacy. There is a renewed interest as newer, long-acting amylin analogues are being developed and may provide substantially greater weight-loss
and metabolic benefits, either as standalone therapies, or in combination with GLP-1 medicines.
Although these mechanisms remain at varying stages of development, they reflect a broader trend toward combination therapies that address multiple physiological drivers of obesity and diabetes, with the goal of delivering greater efficacy while preserving tolerability and longterm adherence.
