Orforglipron Weight Loss Pills Help Keep 70% Off After Year
A daily pill called orforglipron helped people keep weight off for a year after stopping weight loss pills injections in a US study of 376 participants. The trial found the oral drug preserved more than 70% of earlier weight loss, compared with around 38-50% in the placebo group.
The study, published in Nature Medicine and funded by Eli Lilly, followed adults who had already lost weight on tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, or semaglutide, sold as Wegovy. They stopped the injections and took either orforglipron or a placebo every day for a year without being told which tablet they had received.
Nature Medicine orforglipron trial
All 376 participants in the US had been on GLP-1 jabs for more than a year before the switch. By the end of the year-long tablet phase, the orforglipron group had kept more than 70% of the earlier weight loss off. The placebo group kept around 38-50% off.
Dr Marie Spreckley, an expert in weight management research at the UK's University of Cambridge, said swallowing a pill might be more attractive to patients than injecting themselves. She also said, "We still do not know how durable these effects will be over longer periods of time."
University of Cambridge view
She added, "This study reinforces the growing recognition that obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that often requires ongoing treatment and support." Her comments track the trial's main practical point: people who stop injections may lose some of the benefit unless another treatment keeps weight down.
Orforglipron already is available in the US and could soon launch in the UK. The US price is around $149 per month for the lowest dose, while some GLP-1 injections cost over $1,000 a month in the US. Novo Nordisk also has an oral version of its injectable GLP-1 drug Wegovy approved in the US, with a UK decision pending.
Eli Lilly and Wegovy
Side effects on orforglipron were common but mostly mild, including nausea, constipation and diarrhoea. For people coming off injections, the study points to an oral option that may be easier to take and far cheaper than some injectable treatments, but the durability of the result remains the practical issue that will shape how long patients stay on it.
