A daily weight-loss pill has been shown to help patients lose about 12% of their body weight, according to the results of a clinical trial.
The drug, made by the American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, is a GLP-1 agonist – a type of medication that helps lower blood sugar levels, reduces appetite and slows digestion.
More than 3,000 people took part in the 72-week study. Those who received the highest dose – 36mg of orforglipron – lost on average 12.4% of their body weight, compared with just 0.9% of the control group.
The trial also showed other health benefits for users, including improvements to cholesterol, blood pressure and heart disease risk.
The results come after Novo Nordisk’s oral weight loss drug, which has been submitted for approval in the US, helped trial participants lose about 15% of their body weight.
Eli Lilly manufactures Mounjaro, a once-a-week injection that contains the drug tirzepatide, which is also used to help improve blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes.
A weight loss pill could offer a more convenient and cheaper alternative – for both patients and the NHS – to the injectable treatments being rolled out across England.
The trial has not yet been peer reviewed and its results are preliminary.
Kenneth Custer, the president of Eli Lilly, said: “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.”
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Dr Simon Cork, a senior lecturer in physiology at Anglia Ruskin University, said although the preliminary results of the effectiveness were a “positive step forward”, they should be interpreted with caution.
He said: “It should be noted that their effects on weight loss are not as profound as that seen in injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists, such as Wegovy, with a lower percentage weight loss and fewer people achieving 10% weight loss at the highest dose.
“It should be noted that these are preliminary, non-peer reviewed results and we will need to see the full trial methodology and data before a more comprehensive analysis can be undertaken.”