A pill to fight obesity is on the point

The next big obesity medication that descended the pipeline will probably come in the form of a pill. Eli Lilly has just published the latest results of the positive phase III test of his experimental Oral GLP-1 drug, Orforglipron.

Tuesday morning, Eli Lilly reported that OrForgliPron had met the benchmarks of phase III Atatain-2 study of the company. People taking Orforglipron have experienced substantial improvements in weight loss and blood sugar control compared to those who take a placebo, showed the study. Armed with data from two successful phase III trials, the company plans to request the approval of the Food and Drug Administration, with a decision on the drug expected next year.

The newest child in the block

The Attach-2 trial was conducted in 10 countries and involved more than 1,600 obese or overweight people with type 2. diabetes. The volunteers were randomized to receive a placebo or one of the three variable doses of Orforglipron, taken once a day (as is common with the GLP-1 treatment, people have gradually reached their maximum dose over time). Participants were followed for 72 weeks.

Regardless of the dose, people on Orforglipron have lost more weight and have seen a greater reduction in blood sugar than people on placebo, the study revealed.

Those who take more medication have shown more improvement, however. People on the highest dose of Orforglipron have lost an average of around 10% of their basic body weight, for example, for example at the average weight loss of 2.5% observed in those who take a placebo. The drug also worked better on all secondary evaluation criteria, including a higher percentage of people losing at least 15% of their weight (about a third of people in the highest dose have reached).

Orforglipron also seemed to be as safe and tolerable as other existing GLP-1 drugs. Current adverse events included diarrhea, vomiting and constipation (more common for those who are in the highest dose). About 10% of participants in the highest dose interrupted treatment due to their unwanted events, compared to 5% of those on Lieubo.

These results follow similar results from the Attan-1 trial of the company published earlier this month, which tested the drug on overweight or obese-free people without type 2 (in general, people without diabetes tend to lose more weight of GLP-1 therapy than those with diabetes). The company will now officially move forward with the approval of the FDA and other regulatory agencies.

“With these positive data in hand, we are urgently deploying to global regulatory submissions to potentially meet the needs of patients waiting,” said Kenneth Custer, executive vice-president of Eli Lilly and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, in a statement from the company.

Why orforglipron will not be for everyone

Currently, there is only one GLP-1 pill on the market: Rybelsus de Novo Nordisk, an oral form of its successful drug semaglutide (the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy) which is approved to treat type 2 diabetes. Novo Nordisk has requested the approval of the FDA for a higher dose version of oral semaglutide to treat obesity, which could happen later this year. Orforglipron d’Eli Lilly, however, would be the first new generation GLP-1 pill for weight loss if it is approved.

As monumental as this approval is, or Forglipron should not completely exceed its competitors for several reasons.

To start, the drug may not surpass the latest GLP-1 therapies. In the best mounting of the medication so far, the Atatata-1 trial, people taking Orforglipron have lost an average of 12.4% of their basic weight, a notch less than around 14% of the weight loss observed in similar trials on the injectable Wegovy of Novo Nordisk and also below the typical results observed with the shooting of Eli Lilly, a double GP-1 / GIP. The likely arrival of the high -dose semaglutide pill of Novo Nordisk at the end of 2025 can also resume part of the consumer base for Orforglipron.

That said, many potential users may prefer the comfort of a daily pill to a weekly subcutaneous injection, even if it is slightly worse in efficiency.

A GLP-1 oral pill is also probably easier to produce in mass than injectable versions, which could prevent or limit the risk of generalized shortages which regularly affected semaglutide and shooting during the first years of approval. And there may be people who do not previously respond to existing therapies who would benefit from trying orforglipron instead.

With less unforeseen complications, Orforglipron is on the right track to be the next major new GLP-1 approval. But it will surely not be the last, and competition on the best obesity medication should only warm up in the years to come.