Experimental medicine According to data from preliminary trial results announced Thursday by the drugmaker, obese patients manufactured by Eli Lilly, lost more than 12% of their weight. The drug, which should have been taken daily, could replace Zepbough, the company’s popular anti-obesity drug, a weekly injectable drug.
It is called Orforglipron, and it is part of a growing drug called GLP-1, which includes Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. These drugs mimic hormones that occur naturally in the body, help regulate blood sugar and promote a feeling of fullness. Injected GLP-1 drugs have shown a weight loss of about 15% to 20%.
Eli Lilly’s 18-month trial included more than 3,000 adults with an average starting weight of 228 pounds and a weight index of 37, which was considered obese. Participants were randomly received 6, 12 or 36 mg of Orforglipron or placebo. The minimum dose of Orforglipron resulted in less than 8% weight loss, about 18 pounds, and a 9% reduction in the medium dose or 21 pounds.
The highest dose results in maximum weight loss – average 12%, about 27 pounds, compared to 2 pounds for placebo. In the highest dose group, about 60% of participants lost at least 10% of their body weight, while 40% lost 15% or more.
Participants who received Orforglipron started the study at a dose of 1 mg per day and then increased the dose to the final maintenance dose every four weeks. Everyone in the trial, including everyone in the placebo group, was prescribed for a healthy diet and physical exercise. There are no food or water restrictions when taking medications.
The pill is safe, but like the injected GLP-1 drug, Orforglipron has caused gastrointestinal side effects on many participants. The most common was nausea, and one-third of participants in the highest dose group suffered nausea. About one-quarter of the patients in the group experienced constipation, as well as diarrhea and vomiting. These side effects resulted in more than 20% of participants in each dose group withdrawing during the study process.
Eli Lilly said the more detailed results will be presented in the European Diabetes Research Association in September and published in peer-reviewed journals. Novo Nordisk has GLP-1 pills for diabetes, Rybelsus, but is less effective than the injectable version and has never been approved for weight management.
Orforglipron also looks promising in diabetes treatment. In the latest study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, the pill lowers blood sugar levels and weight in people with type 2 diabetes. Eli Lilly said it plans to submit Orforglipron for regulatory review by the end of the year.
Novo Nordisk has GLP-1 pills for diabetes, Rybelsus, but is less effective than the injectable version and has never been approved for weight management. The challenge of developing more effective pills is how to improve their bioavailability – the amount of drugs that enter circulation and have a positive effect. Other GLP-1 drugs are composed of larger molecules that are not easily absorbed in the gastrointestinal tract. Instead, most drugs are digested. Eli Lilly may have solved the problem of a small molecule formula Orforglipron.
