9th Jun 2026 08:09
(Alliance News) - AstraZeneca PLC on Monday announced positive results from the Vista and Solstice phase IIb trials of elecoglipron, an oral small molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist.
The Cambridge, England-based pharmaceuticals firm said the results, presented Monday at the 2026 Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association, and simultaneously published in the Lancet, mark an "important" step in building AstraZeneca's differentiated weight management portfolio, the firm said, supported by the company's broad CVRM pipeline.
AstraZeneca is advancing elecoglipron into an extensive phase III programme in obesity and type 2 diabetes, including cardiovascular and kidney outcome trials.
In Vista, adults with obesity or overweight and at least one comorbidity receiving elecoglipron achieved a clinically meaningful and statistically significant average reduction in body weight of 10.5% at 26 weeks compared to 0.6% with placebo, a dual primary endpoint.
Weight loss in participants receiving elecoglipron did not plateau, reaching 11.8% at 36 weeks versus 0.3% with placebo. The trial also met the dual primary endpoint of proportion of participants achieving at least 5% weight loss at 26 weeks, with up to 88.8% of participants receiving elecoglipron achieving this threshold. In addition, elecoglipron showed clinically meaningful improvements in several exploratory analyses of cardiometabolic risk factors including lower blood pressure and C-reactive protein levels, a marker of systemic inflammation.
In Solstice, adults with type 2 diabetes receiving elecoglipron achieved a clinically meaningful and statistically significant average reduction in HbA1c [average blood glucose levels] of 1.9% from baseline at 26 weeks compared to 0.2% with placebo, the trial's primary endpoint. Elecoglipron also demonstrated a clinically meaningful average reduction in body weight of 7.7% at 26 weeks compared to 1.7% with placebo.
The safety profile of elecoglipron was consistent with the GLP-1 RA class. Adverse events were predominantly gastrointestinal and of mild to moderate severity.
The phase II tolerability data have informed the dose escalation schedule in the phase III programme to further enhance the tolerability profile, the FTSE 100-listing said.
The elecoglipron phase III programme includes the Embold phase III trial which will evaluate elecoglipron as treatment for people with obesity or overweight, with and without type 2 diabetes. The Eluminate phase III trials will evaluate elecoglipron, as monotherapy and in combination with dapagliflozin, as treatment for people with type 2 diabetes. Additional outcome trials will focus on long-term cardiovascular and kidney outcomes.
"These results give us confidence as we kick off our extensive phase III programme," said Sharon Barr, executive vice president, BioPharmaceuticals R&D, AstraZeneca.
Shares in AstraZeneca were down 1.6% at 13,576.00 pence each in London on Tuesday morning.
By Jeremy Cutler, Alliance News reporter
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