GOOD MORNING AMERICA – Eli Lilly says a new pill for obesity, similar to existing GLP-1 medications that can only be injected, is showing promise in a clinical trial.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly says its oral, daily GLP-1 pill may offer similar weight loss results as weekly GLP-1 shots.
Eli Lilly, the maker of Mounjaro and Zepbound, said Thursday that the company’s new orforglipron pill can offer up to an average of 27.3 pounds of weight loss, according to results from the first of two of its Phase 3 trials that included more than 3,100 overweight or obese adults.
Kenneth Custer, an executive vice president and president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said in a statement:
“With orforglipron, we’re working to transform obesity care by introducing a potential once-daily oral therapy that could support early intervention and long-term disease management, while offering a convenient alternative to injectable treatments.”
“With these positive data in hand, we are now planning to submit orforglipron for regulatory review by year-end and are prepared for a global launch to address this urgent public health need.”
According to Eli Lilly, adults in the Phase 3 trials all lost weight with orforglipron and on the highest dose of 36 mg of orforglipron, the trial participants lost about 27 pounds over the course of 72 weeks or about 12% of their body weight, which is meaningful but not quite as high as some injectables.
Ten percent of the trial participants taking the highest dose chose to stop taking the pill, the company said.
The trial participants also showed cardiovascular improvements after taking orforglipron, including lower systolic blood pressure, lower non-HDL cholesterol and lower triglycerides …
