Boehringer Ingelheim's survodutide Phase III trial demonstrated a targeted 34% reduction in visceral fat and a 63% reduction in liver fat, while minimizing lean mass loss, according to a pre-specified analysis. These findings support improved metabolic health in people living with obesity.
Key Findings from SYNCHRONIZE-1 and SYNCHRONIZE-MASLD
The results were presented at the American Diabetes Association's 2026 Scientific Sessions and published in The New England Journal of Medicine and Nature Medicine. The SYNCHRONIZE-1 trial achieved up to 16.6% weight loss with survodutide, a novel glucagon/GLP-1 dual agonist, from baseline. In a sub-study, MRI measurements showed a relative reduction of up to 34.0% in visceral fat, with lean mass accounting for no more than 10.8% of total tissue mass change at the highest dose. Liver fat reduction reached up to 63.1%.
Impact on Metabolic Health
Dr. Lee Kaplan, Director of The Obesity and Metabolism Institute, stated: "For people living with obesity, weight loss is only one part of the story. There is an urgent need for treatments that go beyond weight loss to address related conditions. These data reveal that the glucagon/GLP-1 dual agonism of survodutide offers a promising approach."
Trial Details
The 76-week SYNCHRONIZE-1 trial investigated survodutide in adults with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes. It met its primary endpoints, showing sustained weight loss of up to 16.6% versus 3.2% with placebo. The SYNCHRONIZE-MASLD trial met its primary endpoints, with 6 out of 10 participants achieving liver fat normalization after 48 weeks.
Broader Implications
These results highlight survodutide's potential to reduce metabolically harmful fat while preserving lean mass, offering a new therapeutic avenue for obesity and associated metabolic diseases such as MASLD and MASH.
