Experimental GLP-1 pill helped people with obesity lose weight, Eli Lilly says
Eli Lilly says an experimental pill helped people lower their weight by an average of 12% after 72 weeks.
By Amanda Sealy, CNN
(CNN) — In the first Phase 3 trial of its once-daily oral GLP-1 pill in people with obesity, drugmaker Eli Lilly said Thursday that it helped people lower their weight by an average of 12% after 72 weeks.
Lilly, which makes the injectable drugs Zepbound to treat obesity and Mounjaro and Trulicity to treat diabetes, is among several companies chasing an effective pill form of GLP-1s. The only such pill available so far comes with strict diet restrictions and is approved to treat diabetes.
Lilly says that no food or water restrictions are needed with the experimental oral medication, orforglipron, and it can be taken any time of day.
The study of more than 3,127 adults found that it reduced weight by an average of 27.3 pounds (12.4%) among people who had obesity or overweight with at least one weight-related medical problem such as hypertension, who did not have diabetes, and who were using the highest dose of the medication, the company said in a news release. The results have not yet been peer-reviewed or published in a medical journal.
Lilly also said 59.6% of participants on the highest dose of the pill lost at least 10% of their body weight and 39.6% lost at least 15% of their body weight.
The pill was also associated with lower markers of cardiovascular risk, including cholesterol and blood pressure.
When it came to side effects, the drugmaker said they were similar to the injectable versions of GLP-1s. The most common were gastrointestinal-related, including nausea, constipation and diarrhea.
However, the percentage of patients experiencing these adverse reactions were slightly higher than those in the trial of injectable Zepbound. For example, between 29 and 34% of participants experienced nausea with orforglipron compared with 25 to 29% in Zepbound trials.
The company has also been testing the medicine in patients with type 2 diabetes, and to see whether the pill could help with weight maintenance after patients lost weight using an injectable medicine.
Some experts see promise in the idea that GLP-1 pills could work as an off-ramp of sorts for people who use weekly injections.
“They may not be as effective for maximum weight loss as initial therapy but could be excellent for weight-loss maintenance, which is a different and arguably much more important destination for lasting health benefits,” Dr. Jody Dushay, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and an attending physician in endocrinology at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, previously told CNN.
Eli Lilly says a key step to getting these pills to patients could be coming as soon as this year.
“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,” the company’s statement said.
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