A daily pill for weight loss can help people reduce their body weight by as much as a fifth, according to a trial that could pave the way for millions more people to shed pounds.
The drug, called orforglipron, is manufactured by Eli Lilly and targets the same GLP-1 receptors as weight loss injections such as Mounjaro and Wegovy. In a trial of 3,127 adults, one in five people who took the once-a-day tablet for 72 weeks lost 20% or more of their body weight.
Weight loss jabs have been transformative but pill versions are seen as a holy grail because they are easier to store, distribute and administer and are also expected to be cheaper, offering fresh hope for the millions of people trying to lose weight.
Orforglipron is a GLP-1 agonist, a type of medication that helps lower blood sugar levels, slows the digestion of food and can reduce appetite.
The weight loss seen among people taking the tablet is not as stark as that among patients taking tirzepatide (Mounjaro), which is also made by Eli Lilly, but experts believe the tablet will be more accessible and convenient compared with injections.
Orforglipron is not yet approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) or regulators in other countries. Eli Lilly has said it expects substantial demand when the new pill is launched.
The company published a snapshot of the results in August and the full paper detailing the findings has now been published in the New England Journal of Medicine and presented to the annual meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Vienna, Austria.
In the study, the 3,127 patients were split into groups taking orforglipron pills of different strengths, while others took a placebo, for 72 weeks.
All of the patients had obesity, meaning they had a body mass index (BMI) score of 30 or over, but they did not have diabetes. Patients from the US, China, Brazil, India, Japan, South Korea, Spain, Slovakia and Taiwan took part in the study.
Researchers led by Dr Sean Wharton, of McMaster University in Canada, found that after 72 weeks people taking the lowest dose of orforglipron, 6mg daily tablets, lost an average of 7.5% of their body weight. Those taking the highest dose, 36mg, lost an average of 11.2% of their body weight.
Among patients taking the highest doses, 54.6% had a reduction of 10% or more of body weight, 36% had a reduction of 15% or more, and 18.4% had a reduction of 20% or more.
Researchers said other health metrics also improved among people taking the drug, including better blood pressure, a smaller waist circumference and a reduction in bad cholesterol levels.
The most common side-effects were gastrointestinal, which were said to be mild to moderate.
“In adults with obesity, 72-week treatment with orforglipron led to significantly greater reductions in body weight than placebo,” the authors wrote. “The adverse-event profile was consistent with that of other GLP-1 receptor agonists.”
Wharton said: “This could mean an expansion of obesity interventions to groups who are currently excluded due to the cost of and lack of access to injectable medications.”
Health leaders have hailed weight loss drugs as transformative. But injections come with additional work for health services, so tablet forms could help millions more people trying to lose weight.
Separate research published in JAMA Pediatrics on Monday shows weight loss jabs could be effective on children as young as six who are obese or have type 2 diabetes. However, stomach problems were “significantly more common” among children taking the drugs, the researchers said.
They said longer follow-up periods in future trials and more real-world studies were “essential to establish the long-term effects of GLP-1 RAs in children and adolescents”.