Baseline characteristics from evoke and evoke+: Two phase 3 randomized placebo-controlled trials of semaglutide in participants with early-stage symptomatic Alzheimer's disease.

introductionThe glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist semaglutide may impact neuroinflammation and reduce neurodegeneration. We present baseline characteristics of participants enrolled in the evoke (NCT04777396) and evoke+ (NCT04777409) trials, referred to as "evoke (+)" hereafter.

methodsEvoke (+) are two ongoing global, multicenter, randomized, double-blind, parallel-group, placebo-controlled phase 3 trials investigating semaglutide in participants with early-stage symptomatic Alzheimer's disease (AD) with confirmed amyloid positivity (by positron emission tomography or cerebrospinal fluid testing). Inclusion criteria are the same for both trials, except that by design, evoke+ also includes participants with significant small vessel pathology. Both trials include a 12-week screening phase before randomization (1:1) to receive oral semaglutide titrated to 14 mg or placebo for 156 weeks. Baseline data were summarized and analyzed descriptively. Additionally, data were pooled and assessed by five main geographical regions.

resultsEvoke (+) recruited 9996 participants from 566 sites in 40 countries. The mean (standard deviation) age of participants was 71.8 (7.1) and 72.6 (7.1) years in evoke and evoke+, respectively; more participants were female than male (female: 53.0% and 51.9%, respectively) and most had a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) global score of 0.5 (72.8% and 71.4%; CDR global score of 1: 26.5% and 27.6%). Both trial populations had similar demographics, and clinical and cognitive baseline characteristics, except that 2.8% of participants in evoke+ had magnetic resonance imaging-documented significant small vessel pathology as per protocol inclusion criteria. Regional-level data demonstrated some differences in AD treatment characteristics, including cholinesterase inhibitor use of 41.7% in North America versus 61.6% in Asia. DISCUSSION: Evoke (+) are the only large-scale, phase 3 trials investigating the longer-term efficacy and safety of semaglutide in early AD as a potential disease-modifying treatment. The baseline characteristics from evoke (+) reflect a varied, global population with early-stage symptomatic AD. Primary readouts are expected in the second half of 2025. Highlights: evoke and evoke+ are the only large-scale randomized controlled trials (RCTs) investigating the longer-term efficacy and safety of semaglutide in early AD.Baseline characteristics reflect a varied, global population.The trials' primary readouts are expected in the second half of 2025.