New oral GLP-1 can help reduce 10% of body weight in 6 months

The medication, known as elecoglipron, is currently in phase 2b of clinical trials. AstraZeneca claims that this oral GLP-1 reduced the blood glucose levels of type 2 diabetes patients and helped them lose an average of 10.5 percent of their body weight after 26 weeks.

AstraZeneca further added that, after 36 weeks, adults with obesity or who were overweight who were receiving the highest dose of elecoglipron lost as much as 11.8 percent of their body weight.

The pharma giant’s phase 2b SOLSTICE study was a randomized placebo-controlled trial that involved 406 adults from nine countries, including the United States, with type 2 diabetes. The trial was supported by AstraZeneca and offered trial participants elecoglipron over 26 weeks in different doses: starting doses, maintenance doses, and escalating doses. The 406 participants were grouped accordingly, including participants on placebos.

The researchers noted that nearly 90 percent of participants who took elecoglipron saw their blood sugar levels stabilize to around 7 percent, the standard target for average blood glucose. Participants who were given placebos had blood sugar levels of 25 percent.

At 26 weeks, the average weight lost for the study participants was 10.5 percent. Furthermore, 72 percent of participants in the treatment groups achieved at least a 5 percent reduction in their weight at 26 weeks.

AstraZeneca further noted that elecoglipron had safety and tolerability levels similar to those of other GLP-1 medications when they were at phase 2 of their development.

When elecoglipron drops in the market, it will join a new wave of oral GLP-1 medications competing for market share with their injectable counterparts like Ozempic and Mounjaro.

The first oral GLP-1 medication was Rybelsus, a tablet manufactured by Novo Nordisk and approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration for adults with type 2 diabetes. This was followed in December 2025 with the approval of an oral version of Wegovy, also manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Then, in April of this year, the FDA gave the green light for Foundayo, an oral GLP-1 tablet manufactured by Eli Lilly.

Dr. Pouya Shafipour, a family and obesity medicine doctor at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa Monica, California, told Healthline that elecoglipron still requires a phase 3 clinical trial before its effectiveness and safety can truly be gauged. But, from the data that has been collected, “it looks like it’s very effective.”

“It’s exciting to see another new oral medication that reinforces the positive effects of non-injectable GLP-1 medications,” he added.

Sharon Barr, AstraZeneca Executive Vice President and Head of Biopharmaceuticals Research and Development, told Reuters that the company sees elecoglipron as forming a cornerstone in the pharma giant’s obesity strategy, and hopes to use elecoglipron and other obesity medication to treat not only diabetes, but also obesity-related complications that could prevent kidney disease and heart disease.