Nearly 90% of adults with type 2 diabetes who took AstraZeneca's experimental oral GLP-1 drug reached the standard blood glucose target during a 26-week clinical trial. The drug, called elecoglipron, also produced an average weight loss of 10.5% in participants who took it. By comparison, only about 25% of participants given a placebo reached the same blood glucose benchmark.
According to Healthline, the results came from the phase 2b SOLSTICE trial, a randomized placebo-controlled study involving 406 adults with type 2 diabetes from nine countries, including the United States. AstraZeneca funded the trial. Researchers tested different starting doses, dose-escalation schedules, and maintenance doses across the treatment groups. The results were presented at the American Diabetes Association 2026 Scientific Sessions in New Orleans.
The trial found that 72% of participants in the treatment groups lost at least 5% of their body weight, with the average reaching 10.5% at the 26-week mark. Those figures drew attention from physicians not connected to the trial.
"It's exciting to see another new oral medication that reinforces the positive effects of non-injectable GLP-1 medications," said Pouya Shafipour, MD, a family and obesity medicine physician at Providence Saint John's Health Center in California.
Elecoglipron is the latest in a line of GLP-1 drugs developed in pill form rather than as injections like Ozempic, Wegovy, Zepbound, and Mounjaro. The first oral GLP-1 pill was Rybelsus, manufactured by Novo Nordisk and approved by the FDA in 2019 for adults with type 2 diabetes. In December 2025, the FDA approved a Wegovy pill from Novo Nordisk for weight loss. In April 2026, FDA officials approved Foundayo, an oral tablet from Eli Lilly also used for weight management.
Elecoglipron has not yet been submitted for FDA approval. That step would depend on the outcome of a phase 3 trial.
"The GLP-1 agonist market is expanding quickly and this study's results indicate there may eventually be another oral GLP-1 agonist on the market if the phase 3 trial is successful and if the manufacturer seeks FDA approval," said Marilyn Tan, MD, an endocrinologist and professor of medicine at Stanford University.
Experts say the growing availability of oral GLP-1 options may make the medications accessible to more people who are unwilling or unable to use injectable treatments. Pills generally face fewer barriers related to needle aversion, storage requirements, and administration training.
