Elecoglipron

AstraZeneca is moving its oral, once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist elecoglipron (AZD5004) into Phase III development for obesity and type 2 diabetes in the hopes of adding another drug to its growing portfolio of blockbusters. The company — alongside announcing its latest financial results on Tuesday — noted that it currently has 16 blockbuster medicines on its hands and is hoping to expand this to over 25 by the end of the decade.In 2024, when AstraZeneca set out its target of growing annual revenue to $80 billion by 2030, the drugmaker had 12 blockbusters in its portfolio. "The momentum across our company is continuing in 2026 and we are looking forward to the results of more than 20 Phase III trial readouts this year," said CEO Pascal Soriot.The decision to advance elecoglipron — in-licensed from Eccogene in 2023 — follows positive results from the Phase IIb VISTA and SOLSTICE studies, which evaluated the drug in obesity and type 2 diabetes, respectively. AstraZeneca disclosed Tuesday that VISTA met its primary endpoints of change in body weight from baseline at 26 weeks and proportion of participants with weight loss ≥5% from baseline weight at 26 weeks. Meanwhile, SOLSTICE also hit its main goal of change in HbA1c from baseline at 26 weeks. Full results from both will be presented at the American Diabetes Association (ADA) scientific sessions in June."We have a very broad pipeline of Phase III studies that will start" for elecoglipron, Soriot said, with plans to also "combine it with our broader portfolio of agents." The executive picked out the "tremendous opportunity" of combining elecoglipron with its SGLT2 inhibitor Farxiga."Those two products have benefits not only on the metabolic status of a person, of a patient, but also protecting the kidney, the heart. And we believe this combination will have tremendous impact on the well-being, the health, the general health of people moving forward."Having delivered 16 positive Phase III read outs last year, AstraZeneca indicated that it has more than 100 ongoing late-stage trials, with over 20 expected to report results in 2026. Soriot noted that "a substantial and growing number" of these feature "transformative technologies, which have the potential to revolutionise outcomes for patients and drive our growth well beyond 2030."For the current year, AstraZeneca forecasts a mid-to-high single-digit percentage increase in revenue, with core earnings per share growing by a low double-digit percentage.Last year, the company's sales climbed 9% to $58.7 billion, as profit jumped 45% to $10.2 billion.Emerging market growthWhile countries outside of the US and Europe have long been a focus for AstraZeneca, with China in particular making up a large chunk of the company's sales, it is now other emerging markets that are growing. In 2025, while revenue in China rose 4% to $6.6 billion, growth in other emerging markets reached 19%, bringing in $8.6 billion. "The US...remains our largest geography with 43% of our product revenue. Europe is doing well, but really the highlight is the growth in the emerging markets, in particular outside of China," Soriot said. "This is really one of the strengths of this company. Our broad geographical footprint and in particular our ability to grow in many of these countries around the world where most of the population on the planet live."Chief Financial Officer Aradhana Sarin said that Latin America, Middle East and Africa, Asia all delivered double-digit growth in 2025, which is expected to continue. "And the growth is driven across our therapy areas. So you will see a great performance and strong launches in oncology, particularly with Enhertu and the new indication of Imfinzi," Sarin added.In the final quarter of 2025, growth in emerging markets outside of China was even higher, up 28% to $2.3 billion. AstraZeneca's overall sales in the three-month period climbed 4% to $15.5 billion, with oncology products accounting for $7 billion of this, up 11% year-on-year. Meanwhile, profit surged 55% to $2.3 billion.