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Nuria Ramírez de Castro
Madrid
Tuesday, 22 April 2025, 16:07
The market for anti-obesity and anti-diabetes drugs could witness a giant step forward with the confirmation of the results of a clinical trial by pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly. If successful, a new pill could replace injectables such as the best-selling Ozemping and Mounjaro jabs in the fight against obesity.
Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has just announced the results of phase III of a study related to orforglipron - a drug that does not yet have a commercial name and may start a new revolution in weight-loss treatments. If the company's final results are confirmed, one pill a day would be enough to lose weight and keep glucose levels in check. The volunteers who took part in this research (559 in total) had type 2 diabetes and took either the new pill or a placebo for 40 weeks. In patients taking orforglipron, blood sugar levels dropped by about 1.3-1.6%t. This is the same reduction seen in people injecting Ozempic (Novo Nordisk's drug) or Mounjaro (Eli Lilly), which are the two best-selling drugs at the moment.
In 65% of people taking the new orforglipron pill, blood sugar levels reached normal levels and they lost up to 7.5 kilos. Compared to Ozempic, the results were similar, although the weight loss was less than that achieved by Mounjaro.
The new drug mimics the action of a hormone called GLP-1, like its predecessors, and causes the same intestinal disorders as side effects: nausea, vomiting, diarrhoea, indigestion, constipation. Nonetheless, it has two major advantages over them: the new drug can be administered as a pill, which removes any need of injections and implies wider usage.
At the moment, these are just the results that the pharmaceutical company is showing. Lilly will present its research at the next meeting of the American Diabetes Association in June. It has also announced a publication in a scientific journal, where the results are peer-reviewed. If all goes well, the lab will apply for approval from the FDA, the US drug agency, by the end of the year.
What has been achieved with orforglipron is almost impossible in the search for the 'holy grail'. This new generation of anti-obesity drugs are peptides or small protein fragments (like the insulin that diabetics survive on). Despite many attempts, an insulin pill has never been made because the peptides are destroyed in the digestive tract.
The chemical solution found is a new molecule that allows for a pill that can also be taken at any time of the day, with or without food.
With Ozempic came the revolution in weight-loss treatments, although this was not the first drug in the field. The first to be authorised in Spain was liraglutide (Saxenda). Then came Ozempic. Although it was only indicated to treat diabetics, it was also available for weight loss purposes without prescription. Wegovy, the copy of Ozempic, put an end to this irregular usage and is now prescribed only for weight loss. The most recent release was Mounjaro, which offered much more potent weight-loss results.
All of these medicines belong to the GLP-1 family and all share the same drawback: their only form of administration was injectable. Novo Nordisk tried the oral version and marketed it as Rybelsus, but it must be taken in large doses and is still not as effective as injectables because most of it is digested.
Pharmaceutical company Pfizer also wanted to compete in this presumed billion-dollar market with another weight-loss pill. However, its drug - danuglipron - has suddenly fallen out of the race, due to one of the volunteers suffering a serious liver issue that forced him to stop the trial. It can be said that this will not be the last attempt for the company.
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