Injectable GLP-1 drugs have become gamechangers for treating obesity and Type 2 diabetes. Now, a GLP-1 in pill form is showing promising results for weight loss and blood sugar control — no needles required.
The medication — orforglipron from pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly — is in the same class of drugs as Mounjaro and Ozempic, which patients self-inject once a week. In contrast, the pill is taken once a day.
It may be preferable for people who can’t stand needles or would just prefer to swallow a pill.
The drug mimics GLP-1, a hormone the body produces after eating, which can decrease appetite and help the body manage insulin production.
Does GLP-1 come in pill form?
Orforglipron is not yet approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but adults with Type 2 diabetes who took the pill for 40 weeks in a late-stage trial lost an average of 16 pounds or 7.9% of their body weight, Eli Lilly announced on Thursday, April 17.
The medication also lowered A1C — a test to measure blood sugar levels over the past three months — by an average of about 1.6% after 40 weeks compared to a placebo, according to the trial results, which are expected to be published in a peer-reviewed journal later this year.
More than 65% of study participants who took the highest dose of orforglipron achieved an A1C of 6.5% or less, from a starting point of 8%, Eli Lilly noted.
This reduction means that “if a doctor tested them, they wouldn’t even know that they had diabetes anymore,” Dr. Dan Skovronsky, Eli Lilly’s chief scientific officer, told NBC’s Stephanie Gosk in an exclusive interview that aired on TODAY.
The reduction in A1C from the pill form “is comparable to what we see with injectable GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, though perhaps slightly less than what’s seen with dual agonists like Mounjaro,” Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist in Cary, North Carolina, told NBC News. He was not involved in the trial.
Can you lose weight on a GLP-1 pill?
When it comes to weight loss compared to injectable GLP-1 medications, the pill “activates that GLP-1 receptor in your body, so people can potentially expect the same kinds of weight loss taking this pill. That’s the hope,” Skovronsky said.
To put that in perspective, the highest dose of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s injectable GLP-1 drug approved for obesity management, leads to an almost 15% weight loss in adults with Type 2 diabetes after 72 weeks, according to the company.
That’s almost double what the pill achieved. But the orforglipron study participants “had not yet reached a weight plateau” when the trial ended after 40 weeks, so more weight loss may take place, Eli Lilly noted in its news release.
The pill is also easier to manufacture, so it could be cheaper and more accessible than the injectables, which were often in short supply.
“We’ve built up inventory. So the day that we launch, when we get FDA approval, which could be as soon as next year, we hope to be able to have abundant supply,” Skovronsky said.
What are the side effects of the GLP-1 pill?
The side effects of the pill were similar to injectable GLP-1 drugs, including gastrointestinal issues such as diarrhea, nausea, upset stomach, constipation and vomiting, the company noted.
About 8% of study participants who took the highest dose of the pill stopped treatment because of the side effects.
Taking a pill rather than having to self-inject a drug can be a game changer for some people, said Dr. Melanie Jay, an NYU Langone obesity researcher. But she cautions the prescription drugs need to be managed by a doctor no matter which form they come in.
“It is not a silver bullet, and we are finding that in real world practice, we still have so much to learn about how to use these medicines,” Jay said on TODAY.
Eli Lilly has a trial underway specifically looking at how the pill form impacts obesity and expects the results in the coming months, Gosk reported. It expects the anti-obesity version of the pill to be approved by the FDA first — likely next year, she said.
It’s too soon to know how much the pill might cost, Skovronsky said.
