GLP-1 medications like Ozempic have transformed the way people think about weight loss. The need to inject the drug every week, however, can be a deterrent for the needle-phobic.
A GLP-1 weight loss pill could be a game changer — and one may be on the way.
Last week, drugmaker Eli Lilly announced results from a late-stage diabetes trial showing that its daily GLP-1 pill orforglipron significantly reduced A1C (a measure of blood sugar) and body weight compared with placebo (a sham pill).
The medication proved to be as safe and tolerable as injectable GLP-1 drugs.
Crucially, the pill requires no restrictions around timing or food and water intake.
“As a convenient once-daily pill, orforglipron may provide a new option and, if approved, could be readily manufactured and launched at scale for use by people around the world,” said David Ricks, CEO of Lilly, in a statement.
Lilly expects to share the study results at a diabetes conference and in a peer-reviewed medical journal later this year. The company plans to submit orforglipron for approval as an obesity medication to global regulatory agencies by the end of the year, and as a diabetes medication in 2026.
People Taking Orforglipron Saw Substantial Reductions in Weight and A1C Levels
In a 40-week placebo-controlled trial, people with type 2 diabetes taking the highest dose of orforglipron lost 16 pounds on average, or about 7.9 percent of their body weight, and were still losing weight when the study ended.
Their A1C levels also dropped by an average of 1.3 to 1.6 percent, depending on dosage.
These results surpassed established benchmarks of effectiveness, according to Beth Zerr, PharmD, an assistant clinical professor of pharmacy practice at the University of Arizona in Tuscon.
“Significant weight loss has traditionally been quantified as total body weight loss of 5 percent or more — orforglipron exceeded that in this trial,” says Dr. Zerr, who was not involved in the research.
She points out, however, that clinical trials of injectable Wegovy (a semaglutide drug like Ozempic) produced around 16 percent total body weight loss, and some people taking injectable Zepbound (tirzepatide) lost more than 20 percent of their total body weight.
The impact of orforglipron on blood sugar was comparable with other currently approved diabetes drugs, including metformin, Ozempic, and the tirzepatide drug Mounjaro, according to Zerr.
Orforglipron May Offer an Alternative to Weekly Injections
Marilyn Tan, MD, a clinical associate professor of medicine specializing in endocrinology, gerontology, and metabolism at Stanford University in California, notes that the GLP-1 pill Rybelsus is already available, but only approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for diabetes treatment and not obesity.
Orforglipron is aimed specifically at weight management.
“The current FDA-approved option [Rybelsus] has more restrictions around timing of medication with food and other medications,” says Dr. Tan, who was not involved in the orforglipron trials. “If there are fewer restrictions with orforglipron, that would be appealing.”
The drug is expected to cost less than injectable options, Zerr says, and some patients may find it easier to take a pill every day than give themselves a weekly shot.
“Though intuitively, people should prefer a pill over an injection, in my experience, patients are willing to take the weekly injection if it provides more robust weight and A1C lowering outcomes,” says Tan.
As far as oral GLP-1 drugs are concerned, we can expect more choices in the next few years, says Zerr — hopefully at lower price points.
EDITORIAL SOURCES
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Resources
Lilly’s Oral GLP-1, Orforglipron, Demonstrated Statistically Significant Efficacy Results and a Safety Profile Consistent with Injectable GLP-1 Medicines in Successful Phase 3 Trial. Lilly. April 17, 2025.
Chao AM et al. Clinical Insight on Semaglutide for Chronic Weight Management in Adults: Patient Selection and Special Considerations. Drug Design, Development and Therapy. December 29, 2022.
Tom Gavin joined Everyday Health as copy chief in 2022 after a lengthy stint as a freelance copy editor. He has a bachelor's degree in psychology from College of the Holy Cross.
Prior to working for Everyday Health, he wrote, edited, copyedited, and fact-checked for books, magazines, and digital content covering a range of topics, including women's health, lifestyle, recipes, restaurant reviews, travel, and more. His clients have included Frommer's, Time-Life, and Google, among others.
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Don Rauf has been a freelance health writer for over 12 years and his writing has been featured in HealthDay, CBS News, WebMD, U.S. News & World Report, Mental Floss, United Press International (UPI), Health, and MedicineNet. He was previously a reporter for DailyRx.com where he covered stories related to cardiology, diabetes, lung cancer, prostate cancer, erectile dysfunction, menopause, and allergies. He has interviewed doctors and pharmaceutical representatives in the U.S. and abroad.
He is a prolific writer and has written more than 50 books, including Lost America: Vanished Civilizations, Abandoned Towns, and Roadside Attractions. Rauf lives in Seattle, Washington.
