INGELHEIM, Germany — October 1, 2026
Boehringer Ingelheim announced positive results from the Phase III SYNCHRONIZE-2 trial evaluating survodutide in adults living with obesity or overweight and type 2 diabetes (T2D). The trial met its co-primary endpoints, with participants receiving survodutide achieving up to 13.1% average weight loss after 76 weeks, compared with 3.1% for placebo using the efficacy estimand. The study also showed that up to 79.3% of participants receiving survodutide achieved at least 5% body weight reduction versus 32.7% with placebo. The findings were presented at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) and simultaneously published in The New England Journal of Medicine.
Survodutide Improves Glycemic and Cardiometabolic Measures
SYNCHRONIZE-2 also demonstrated improvements in key measures of glycemic and cardiometabolic health. HbA1c decreased by up to 1.21% from a baseline of 7.4%, compared with a 0.03% reduction with placebo. Participants receiving survodutide also experienced an 11.1 cm reduction in waist circumference, compared with 3.5 cm with placebo. Additional analyses showed improvements in fasting glucose, insulin resistance and insulin secretion, while up to 29.5% of participants receiving survodutide reverted to normoglycemia compared with 4.0% of those receiving placebo. These results add to the evidence being generated around the potential metabolic effects of glucagon/GLP-1 dual receptor agonism in people with obesity and T2D.
Gastrointestinal Events Remain Key Tolerability Consideration
Gastrointestinal adverse events were the most frequently reported side effects in SYNCHRONIZE-2, consistent with the established tolerability profile of GLP-1-based therapies. Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea and constipation were among the most common events and were generally mild to moderate in severity. Treatment discontinuation because of gastrointestinal adverse events occurred in 18% of participants receiving survodutide compared with 1.2% for placebo. Most discontinuations occurred during the dose-escalation period, while subsequent and ongoing studies are incorporating more flexible titration strategies intended to improve treatment tolerability.
Advertisement
Boehringer Advances Broad Survodutide Development Program
Survodutide is an investigational glucagon/GLP-1 receptor dual agonist being developed across obesity, T2D and metabolic liver disease. The broader development program includes the SYNCHRONIZE studies in obesity and related metabolic conditions, the LIVERAGE program in metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis (MASH) and fibrosis, and SYNCHRONIZE-T2D in adults with T2D. Boehringer also reported body-composition findings from SYNCHRONIZE-1 showing preferential reductions in visceral and liver fat, while muscle accounted for no more than 10% of total tissue lost in the analyzed subgroup. The company expects additional cardiovascular outcomes data from SYNCHRONIZE-CVOT and is continuing development of survodutide across multiple cardiometabolic indications.
Source: Boehringer Ingelheim press release
