STAT+: Daily pill from Eli Lilly helps patients control blood sugar, lose weight, Phase 3 study shows

A daily pill from Eli Lilly helped patients with type 2 diabetes improve their blood sugar and shed weight, the company said Thursday, results that could propel the next-generation treatment onto the market.

The drug, orforglipron, produced results that were nearly comparable to the benefits of available GLP-1 drugs, which are weekly injectable treatments. Companies have been racing to develop more convenient, as well as more powerful, obesity treatments, including pills. The thought is that the easier-to-take medicines could give companies an edge in the competitive marketplace and expand their patient bases.

Lilly touted that the results of the ACHIEVE-1 trial are the first Phase 3 outcomes for an oral GLP-1 treatment. It said that if orforglipron wins approval, it could be launched globally without supply constraints, which have dogged the injectable GLP-1 diabetes and obesity treatments, including Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.

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