A Phase 2 interventional study of Semaglutide in Ischemic Stroke, sponsored by Population Health Research Institute. Not yet recruiting. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-09-24.
Sponsored by Population Health Research Institute · Phase 2, Interventional, and Treatment
Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) is a procedure that improves recovery for people who suffer from a stroke by removing blood clots from large blood vessels in the brain. However, even with this treatment, over half of the patients either pass away or are left with serious disabilities within three months. This is partly because, even in cases of a successful EVT, brain tissue damage continues to grow. Extent of brain damage is a major factor in how well a patient recovers. Studies in animals have shown that a drug called semaglutide might help protect the brain and improve recovery after a stroke. Semaglutide is currently used for the treatment of diabetes and obesity and is given as a weekly injection under the skin.
The investigators are hoping to test whether giving semaglutide to stroke patients undergoing EVT can improve their recovery. A very large study at many hospitals is needed to answer this question. The investigators are starting with a smaller study to gain information on whether it is possible to perform a larger definitive one, and if so, how best to plan for it. In this first step we will study 100 patients with stroke who are scheduled for EVT in approximately 10 stroke centers across Canada. These patients will be randomly divided (like flipping a coin) into two groups: one will receive weekly semaglutide injections for 12 weeks, while the other will not receive the drug. The investigators will track how many patients agree to participate, how many stay in the study, and how well they follow the treatment plan. The investigators will also monitor the patients' recovery, overall health, and any side effects from the treatment. These results will provide important information to plan our larger study with the goal of reducing death rates and long-term disability in stroke patients undergoing EVT.
Background/Importance:
Endovascular thrombectomy (EVT) has substantially improved functional outcomes and decreased mortality in acute ischemic stroke patients with large vessel occlusions (LVOs). However, more than half of the patients die or have significant disability at 90 days after EVT. Studies suggest considerable infarct growth despite successful EVT and infarct volume predicts survival and functional outcome after EVT. There is an unmet need for interventions to reduce infarct growth and improve the functional outcomes of patients with an acute LVO who undergo EVT. Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP-1 RAs) have been suggested to decrease infarct growth and improve motor and sensory impairments in both diabetic and non-diabetic animal models of stroke. GLP-1 RAs also consistently decreased the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (MACE), with the most profound effect in stroke prevention, in large-scale randomized clinical trials (RCTs) of patients with and without history of diabetes.
Research Aims:
The overall goal of this study is to test whether semaglutide can improve the functional outcomes of adults with acute ischemic stroke attributed to an intracranial LVO who are planned for treatment with EVT. We are performing a pilot trial to obtain the factual feasibility prerequisites essential for the planning, design, funding and execution of a subsequent main phase trial.
Methods:
Glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists for Endovascular Stroke Thrombectomy (LEAST) is a multicentre, prospective, randomized, open label, blinded endpoint (PROBE) pilot clinical trial. LEAST will recruit a total of 100 adult patients scheduled to receive EVT at approximately 10 high-volume stroke research centres in Canada over 1.5 to 2 years. Participants fulfilling the inclusion and exclusion criteria will be randomly assigned up to 6 hours from the end of the EVT procedure, defined as the time of the last angiographic run, to either receive semaglutide (0.25 mg subcutaneous [SC] weekly for 4 weeks followed by 0.5 mg SC weekly for another 8 weeks) or to no semaglutide treatment.
Outcomes:
The primary feasibility endpoint is recruitment rate.
Secondary feasibility endpoints include retention rates and medication adherence.
Exploratory outcomes include:
Proportion of participants with functional independence (mRS scores 2 or less) at 90±14 days; Absolute difference in the NIHSS scores between randomization and 36±12 hours; Functional outcome at day 7±2, assessed with the ordinal mRS scores; Proportion of participants with functional independence (mRS scores 2 or less) at day 7±2; Functional outcome at day 30±7, assessed with the ordinal mRS scores; Proportion of participants with functional independence (mRS scores 2 or less) at day 30±7; Functional outcome at 90±14 days, assessed with the ordinal mRS scores; Quality of life at 90±14 days, assessed with the EQ-5D-5L scale; Recurrent stroke (ischemic, hemorrhagic or uncertain) by 90±14 days; Occurrence of MACE (any stroke, myocardial infarction cardiovascular death) by 90±14 days.
2,612 studies on the registry are indexed under Ischemic Stroke; 971 are open to participants now.
This study's planned enrollment of 100 is below the median of 120 across 1,776 interventional studies indexed under Ischemic Stroke.
Browse Ischemic Stroke studies →Population Health Research Institute is the lead sponsor of 115 studies on the registry; 26 are open to participants now.
Of its 5 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 1 (20%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Go through the criteria one by one — yes, no or not sure — and take the list to your doctor or the study team. Kept in this browser only.
Exclusion Criteria:
Underlined terms in the criteria open these too. Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Informed consent
Before you join, the study team explains what taking part involves — its purpose, what happens, the risks and possible benefits — and answers your questions, so you can decide freely. Consent is usually recorded on a form (the informed consent form, ICF) signed by you or, where the law allows, by someone legally authorised to decide for you.
You can keep asking questions during the study, you are told of new information that matters, and you can choose to leave at any time.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Creatinine clearance (CrCl)
How quickly the kidneys clear creatinine, a waste product, from the blood. A study may estimate it from a blood test with age, weight and sex (often by the Cockcroft–Gault formula), or measure it using blood and urine collected over a set time. Given in mL/min; higher is better.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Metastases
Cancer that has spread from where it began to other parts of the body. “Metastatic” cancer is cancer that has spread this way.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Life expectancy
The study doctor’s estimate of how long someone is likely to live. Criteria use it so that people can stay in the study long enough for it to answer its question.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
BMI (body mass index)
Weight in kilograms divided by height in metres squared. Example: 70 kg and 1.75 m gives 70 ÷ (1.75 × 1.75) ≈ 22.9.
What counts as overweight or obesity differs between countries (some use lower cut-offs), so go by the range the study states.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Hypersensitivity
An allergy, or another reaction of the immune system, to a substance. “Hypersensitivity to the study drug” means a known allergic reaction to it — not every side effect a medicine can have.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Investigational drug or device
A drug or device being studied in a clinical trial.
It may be new, or already approved and being studied for another use, dose or form. Criteria often leave out people who took part in another study of one within a recent period, commonly 30 days or five half-lives.
Explained by clinicaltrials.gg, not part of the registry record. The study team decides who can take part.
Semaglutide
Drug: Semaglutide
No Intervention
Glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist
Also known as: Ozempic, Apo-semaglutide
Feasibility - Recruitment
Recruitment of approximately 7 patients per site per year at approximately 10 Canadian stroke centres
Time frame: From site activation until the end of recruitment (approximately 24 months)
Medication Adherence
Target \>75% medication adherence
Time frame: From randomization to day 90±14
Retention Rate
Target \>90% of study participants remaining in the trial
Time frame: From randomization to day 90±14
No study locations are listed for this record.
Plan to share: Yes
No publications or documents are linked to this record.
Start is estimated for Oct 2026; primary completion for Oct 2028, 24 months later.
Of 83 non-industry phase 2 interventional studies under Ischemic Stroke, half reached primary completion within 28 months of starting (the median), counting those still running; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 40. This study's planned 24 months is below that.
Counting every sponsor, half of 124 studies reached it within 28 months; a quarter within 15 and three quarters within 39.
How these figures are worked out, and which studies are left out of them.
This study is not yet recruiting, as verified in Mar 2026. You cannot join it, but the record below documents what was studied.
Get an email when the registry record changes — status, dates, results — or when someone posts here.
Sign in to followQuestions and observations about this study, from anyone following it. Not medical advice, and not a channel to the study team — their contact details are on the registry record.
Sign in to join the discussion. Reading takes no account; posting does. You choose a display name, and a pseudonym is the default.
Nothing here yet. If you are running this trial, taking part in it, or weighing whether to, this is the place to say so.
Studies of the drug tested here: Semaglutide
Population Health Research Institute →