TouchENDOCRINOLOGY coverage from EASD 2025:
At the EASD 2025 congress (Vienna, Austria; 15–19 September), major advances in diabetes, obesity and digital health took centre stage. touchENDOCRINOLOGY spoke with Dr John Doupis (Director, Iatriko Paleou Falirou Medical Center, Athens, Greece; Editor-in-Chief, touchREVIEWS in Endocrinology) to discuss the most exciting data from the meeting, including results from the SURPASS-CVOT (NCT04255433), SOUL (NCT03914326) and ATTAIN-1 (NCT05869903) trials, and to explore how emerging therapies and technologies are shaping the future of diabetes care.
Q. What have been your personal highlights from EASD 2025?
This year’s EASD has been truly remarkable, with many exciting developments in obesity, diabetes, and diabetes technology. Several highly anticipated clinical trials were presented, and the results were outstanding.
One of the most impressive was the SURPASS-CVOT trial, which evaluated the cardiovascular outcomes of tirzepatide in patients with type 2 diabetes at high cardiovascular risk. The results were exceptional, tirzepatide demonstrated significant cardiovascular benefit compared with dulaglutide, an agent already known for its cardiovascular efficacy. What makes this particularly exciting is that dulaglutide, rather than placebo, served as the comparator, underscoring tirzepatide’s superior performance.
Another key highlight was the SOUL trial, a large, double-blind, placebo-controlled cardiovascular outcomes study investigating oral semaglutide. This trial confirmed a cardiovascular benefit in patients with type 2 diabetes and high cardiovascular risk, demonstrating a 14% reduction in major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE); a clinically meaningful result.
Equally noteworthy was the ATTAIN-1 trial, a phase 3 study of orforglipron, an oral GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity. The findings were very encouraging, with participants achieving over 11% mean weight loss. Clearly, the field of diabesity is progressing rapidly and becoming even more exciting.
Beyond these trials, there are also new therapeutic agents under development. One particularly promising molecule is malitide (maridebart cafraglutide), a dual-acting compound that functions as a GLP-1 receptor agonist and GIP antagonist. Administered once monthly, it represents an innovative direction in diabetes and obesity therapy, and I expect we’ll see compelling data in the near future.
Finally, another fascinating area is technology in diabetes care, particularly for type 1 diabetes. The integration of artificial intelligence into diabetes management systems promises to make daily life easier for patients and to simplify care for healthcare providers. I truly believe the future of diabetes management is becoming brighter and more seamless.
Q. What were the key presentations in type 2 diabetes?
There were many important presentations this year, both oral and poster sessions, focusing on emerging therapies and novel mechanisms. One major area of interest is fatty liver disease, which is now closely linked to diabetes and increasingly recognized as a therapeutic target. Many companies have this in their development pipelines, and I believe future diabetes treatments will take a more holistic approach, addressing both glycaemic control and metabolic liver health.
We continue to see excellent results from GLP-1 analogues, and the triple agonists, such as those acting on GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors, are also showing great promise. There were interesting data on the beneficial effects of tirzepatide on fatty liver disease in preclinical models, and agents like retatrutide are shaping what the next generation of therapies will look like.
I think we are entering an era where the distinction between diabetes and obesity will blur further. We may eventually need to redefine the disease paradigm from treating diabetes to preventing it entirely by addressing prediabetes and obesity earlier. Importantly, obesity must be recognized and managed as a chronic disease. Long-term treatment, including pharmacotherapy for weight management, will be essential to help patients maintain health and prevent progression to diabetes.
About Dr John Doupis
Dr John Doupis is Director of the Diabetes Division and Clinical Research Center at Iatriko P. Falirou Medical Center in Athens, Greece. A former clinical research fellow at the Joslin Diabetes Center, Harvard Medical School, and scientific partner at the Beth Israel Deaconess Foot Center, Harvard Medical School, he has served as principal investigator in numerous multicentre clinical trials across all phases. Dr Doupis is a member of several editorial boards, a registered reviewer for leading diabetes journals, and has presented over 200 abstracts at national and international congresses. His research focuses on diabetes and its complications, including obesity, diabetic neuropathy, diabetic foot, and glucose-sensing technologies, with more than 50 publications and over 1,500 citations in international journals.
This content has been developed independently by Touch Medical Media for touchENDOCRINOLOGY. It is not affiliated with the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD). Views expressed are the speaker’s own and do not necessarily reflect the views of Touch Medical Media.
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