Daijiworld Media Network - London
London, Jun 14: Pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca has reported encouraging results from a clinical trial of its experimental oral weight-loss drug elecoglipron, offering fresh hope for people living with obesity and overweight conditions who may prefer a pill over injectable treatments.
The findings, published in the medical journal The Lancet, come amid growing global demand for effective obesity medications and intensifying competition among drugmakers developing next-generation weight-loss therapies.
Elecoglipron is a once-daily oral medicine designed to activate GLP-1 receptors, which help regulate appetite, reduce food intake and support weight loss. The drug could provide a more convenient alternative to injectable treatments such as Wegovy and Mounjaro, which have transformed obesity treatment in recent years.
The positive results emerged from the Phase 2 VISTA clinical trial involving 310 adults with obesity or overweight conditions and at least one weight-related health issue. Participants from the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, Germany, Japan and Taiwan received either elecoglipron or a placebo for 36 weeks, alongside guidance on diet and exercise.
Researchers found that the drug produced significant dose-dependent weight loss. After 26 weeks, participants receiving the highest dose recorded an average weight loss of 10.5 per cent, compared to just 0.6 per cent among those receiving a placebo.
The benefits increased further by week 36, with participants in the highest-dose group achieving an average body-weight reduction of 11.8 per cent, while the placebo group registered a reduction of only 0.3 per cent.
The study also showed that nearly 89 per cent of participants receiving the highest dose lost at least 5 per cent of their body weight, compared with around 16 per cent in the placebo group. Many participants lost more than 10 per cent of their starting weight, while a substantial number achieved reductions of 15 per cent or more.
Researchers noted that weight loss was still continuing when the study ended, suggesting that participants could potentially achieve even greater reductions with longer treatment.
Melanie Davies, Professor of Diabetes Medicine at the University of Leicester and principal investigator for the VISTA trial, said the findings highlighted the drug's potential to address obesity and related health complications.
She noted that participants receiving the daily oral treatment experienced significant weight loss along with improvements in blood pressure and markers of systemic inflammation.
Beyond weight reduction, elecoglipron was associated with improvements in several health indicators linked to obesity and cardiovascular risk. Participants showed reductions in body mass index (BMI), waist circumference, systolic blood pressure and inflammation-related markers, with benefits becoming more pronounced at higher doses.
The most commonly reported side effects included nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting and headaches. Researchers said these were primarily gastrointestinal in nature and consistent with those observed in other GLP-1-based treatments.
Encouraged by the strong Phase 2 results, AstraZeneca has announced plans to advance elecoglipron into Phase 3 clinical trials, a crucial step before seeking regulatory approval for wider use.
The development is expected to further intensify competition in the rapidly expanding global obesity treatment market as pharmaceutical companies race to develop more effective and convenient therapies for weight management.