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The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) conference has been taking place this week, from 15–19 September 2025 in Vienna. Here, Joanna Robertson, senior clinical reporter at The Pharmaceutical Journal, rounds up the biggest news coming out of the conference.
Type 2 diabetes mellitus could accelerate chronic disease
A descriptive real-world study analysed data from 502,368 UK Biobank participants to reveal how type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM) influences the rate of chronic disease development.
Lead author Jie Zhang, postdoctoral fellow at the Steno Diabetes Center Aarhus, Denmark, said: “Concerningly, people with T2DM showed faster progression to diseased states compared to those without the condition… with the pattern being more pronounced in middle-aged adults.”
In addition, among individuals with the same number of chronic conditions, those with T2DM experienced a faster progression to additional condition compared with those without T2DM.
The results “underscore the need for stage-specific care strategies tailored to different phases of chronic disease development,” said Zhang.
Further reading on diabetes treatment:
Regular exercise needed after weight loss to reduce risk of heart attack and strokes
Both exercise and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists have been shown to reduce the obesity-associated risk of cardiovascular events such as heart failure and heart attacks. However, exercise could be better than medication when it comes to reducing cardiovascular risk during weight maintenance, a small-scale study from the University of Copenhagen, Denmark, suggests.
Participants who followed an exercise programme — with or without treatment with liraglutide — had lower levels of inflammatory biomarkers compared with non-exercising participants, with an average interleukin [IL]-6 level 21% lower and an interferon [IFN]-γ level 27% lower), as well as improved biomarkers of endothelial function (with an average 6% drop in vascular cell adhesion molecule 1 [VCAM-1], an 8% drop in intercellular adhesion molecule 1 [ICAM-1], and a 12% decrease in tissue plasmin aggregator [tPA]) compared with non-exercising participants, and reduced carotid artery thickness (average -0.024mm). No differences were noted in inflammatory or endothelial function biomarkers or carotid artery thickness between participants treated with liraglutide and those not taking the drug.
Further reading on the benefit of exercise:
- Managing hypertension: the role of diet and exercise;
- All forms of exercise effective in treating depression, meta-analysis finds;
- NICE recommends exercise over analgesics for patients with osteoarthritis;
- NICE reverses advice on exercise therapy for treatment of chronic fatigue syndrome in draft guidance.
Daily GLP-1 pill orforglipron averages up to 11.2% weight loss
Results from a phase III, multinational, randomised double-blind trial of the oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist orforglipron (Emgality; Eli Lilly) show that participants who were overweight or obese lost an average of 7.5% of their body weight over 72 weeks on the 6mg once-daily dose alongside healthy eating and exercise, rising to 8.4% loss with 12mg of orforglipron, and 11.2% loss with 36mg of orforglipron, as compared with 2.1% loss with placebo.
Further reading on GLP-1 weight-loss drugs:
Could RNA drugs alter metabolism for long-term weight loss?
Turin-based biotech Resalis Therapeutics has developed an antisense oligonucleotide called RES-010, which is a small, lab-made fragment of genetic material designed to block an RNA molecule called miR-22 that is involved in lipid metabolism, the production and activity of mitochondria and adipose tissue remodelling. The drug targets fat loss rather than loss of lean mass, which includes bone and muscle.
Riccardo Panella, chief scientific officer at Resalis Therapeutics and author of an unpublished abstract presented at the meeting, said that in mice studies, those treated with RES-010 lost around 12% more of their body weight than untreated ones, despite eating the same amount “which suggests RES-010 isn’t suppressing appetite but reprogramming the metabolism”.
However, Adam Collins, associate professor of nutrition at University of Surrey, said the “exact molecular mechanisms behind these effects remain unclear”.
“It is essential to see the full paper, to understand the mechanistic rationale behind the RES-10, and its proven metabolic effects, before interpreting any overall weight loss results,” he added.
A phase I clinical trial is currently underway, with initial results expected at the beginning of 2026.
