An agonist binds a receptor and switches it on, mimicking the body's own signal. An antagonist binds the same site and blocks the signal instead.
One molecule engineered to activate several receptors at once — a designed multiple ligand, or unimolecular polyagonist. Tirzepatide (two) and retatrutide (three) are the clinical landmarks.
Many diseases are network problems involving several signalling pathways. A polyagonist can address the network with one molecule and one dosing schedule, instead of a cocktail of separate drugs with separate pharmacokinetics.
Eli Lilly's dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist: superior glucose control to semaglutide in SURPASS-2 (Frias et al., NEJM 2021, PMID 34170647), up to ~20.9% mean weight reduction in SURMOUNT-1 (Jastreboff et al., NEJM 2022, PMID 35658024), FDA-approved as Mounjaro (2022) and Zepbound (2023).
Eli Lilly's triple GIP/GLP-1/glucagon agonist: up to ~24.2% mean weight reduction at 48 weeks in phase 2 (Jastreboff et al., NEJM 2023, PMID 37366315), ~28.7% at 68 weeks in the first phase 3 readout (TRIUMPH-4, December 2025 -- company-reported topline, peer-reviewed publication pending).
No approved medicine engages many receptors by design; the clinical frontier today is triple agonism. Panacea's Poliagonist series is a design-stage research programme — no molecule, binding data, or clinical result is claimed on this site.
Morphy and Rankovic formalised designed multiple ligands in 2005; Matthias Tschöp and Richard DiMarchi advanced unimolecular polypharmacology; Eli Lilly brought tirzepatide and retatrutide into the clinic. Read the credited timeline on The Research.
From poli- (many — the Romanian form of poly-, a deliberate Panacea naming choice) + agonist: Panacea's name for its many-receptor peptide design series. The number in each name of the series is the number of receptors the design aims to engage.