GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have changed the way people think about weight loss. The need to inject the drug every week, however, can be a deterrent for the needle-phobic.
A GLP-1 pill could be a game changer — and one may be on the way.
Last week, drugmaker Eli Lilly announced results from a late-stage diabetes trial showing that its daily GLP-1 pill orforglipron significantly cut A1C (a measure of blood sugar) and body weight compared with placebo (a sham pill).
“As a convenient once-daily pill, orforglipron may provide a new option and, if approved, could be readily manufactured and launched at scale for use by people around the world,” said David Ricks, CEO of Lilly, in a statement.
Lilly plans to share the study results at a diabetes conference and in a peer-reviewed medical journal later this year. The company plans to submit orforglipron for approval as a weight loss medication to global regulatory agencies by the end of the year, and as a diabetes medication in 2026.
People Taking Orfoglipron Saw Substantial Reductions in Weight and A1C Levels
In a 40-week placebo-controlled trial, people with type 2 diabetes taking the highest dose of orfoglipron lost 16 pounds on average, or about 7.9 percent of their body weight, and were still losing weight when the study ended.
Their A1C levels also dropped by an average of 1.3 to 1.6 percent, depending on dosage.
These results surpassed established benchmarks of effectiveness, according to Beth Zerr, PharmD, an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Arizona in Tuscon.
“Significant weight loss has traditionally been quantified as total body weight loss of 5 percent or more — orforglipron exceeded that in this trial,” says Dr. Zerr, who was not involved in the research.
The impact of orfoglipron on blood sugar, however, was comparable with other currently approved drugs for diabetes management, including metformin, Ozempic, and the tirzepatide drug Mounjaro, according to Zerr.
Orfoglipron May Offer an Alternative to Weekly Injections
Marilyn Tan, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine specializing in endocrinology, gerontology, and metabolism at Stanford University in California, notes that the GLP-1 pill Rybelsus is already available, but that drug is only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diabetes treatment and not weight loss.
“The current FDA-approved option [Rybelsus] has more restrictions around timing of medication with food and other medications,” says Dr. Tan, who was not involved in the orforglipron trials. “If there are fewer restrictions with orforglipron, that would be appealing.”
The drug is expected to cost less than injectable options, Zerr says, and some patients may find it easier to take a pill over getting a weekly shot.
“Though intuitively, people should prefer a pill over an injection, in my experience, patients are willing to take the weekly injection if it provides more robust weight and A1C lowering outcomes,” says Tan.
As far as oral GLP-1 drugs are concerned, we can expect more choices in the next few years, says Zerr — hopefully at lower price points.
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