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A daily pill to rival Ozempic is one step closer to hitting the market.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly saw its stock jump Thursday morning after announcing initial Phase 3 trial results on orforglipron, a highly anticipated medication for diabetes and weight loss.
The drug is in the same class of GLP-1 medications as Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound — weekly injections that upended the weight-loss industry — but in pill form.
Lilly’s head of diabetes and obesity Patrik Jonsson recently told Business Insider that orforglipron will likely unlock a much wider market, bringing the benefits of groundbreaking weight-loss drugs to people who can’t, or don’t want to, use injections.
“Most importantly, when you look at the global need, we expect that there are more than one billion people across the globe that are suffering from obesity,” Jonsson said. “There is no way that we can meet those demands with injectable treatments today.”
The race to make the perfect weight-loss pill
Lilly is racing to bring the first pill version of a GLP-1 for weight loss to market against competitors like Novo Nordisk and Pfizer, whose prospects have not lived up to expectations.
Novo Nordisk’s Rybelsus, a daily pill with the same properties as Ozempic, was FDA-approved for diabetes in 2019.
However, its weight loss results didn’t stack up to other GLP-1 drugs in studies, and it’s not straightforward to take; users need to fast before and for 30 minutes after taking the pill.
Pfizer’s daily pill, danuglipron, was scrapped after one study participant developed liver problems and recovered after they stopped taking the drug.
What we know about Eli Lilly’s orforglipron
If all goes well for Lilly, orforglipron could be up for FDA approval for weight management by the end of 2025, and for type 2 diabetes treatment in 2026.
In the topline results released today, adults with diabetes who took orforglipron for 40 weeks had significantly better blood sugar control than those who took a placebo, according to a press release from Lilly.
They also lost up to 16 pounds (about 7.6% of their body weight) on average while taking the highest dose, and hadn’t plateaued by the end of the study, suggesting even more weight loss could be possible.
The study — one of seven trials planned — found orforglipron is just as safe as other GLP-1 drugs, with the similar side effects like diarrhea and nausea.
The company intends to release more data later this year, Lilly’s CEO David A. Ricks said in the press release.
The big question is: will it be cheaper than Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, or Zepbound?
While Eli Lilly has been tight-lipped about list price, analysts say there’s a good chance orforglipron could cost less than the $900 monthly list price of current drugs, since a pill is easier to produce and distribute.
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