Researchers are now trying out ways to mix these drugs with others to make them even safer and work better. New forms of taking these medications, like easy-to-swallow pills and long-lasting injections, promise to be more convenient, which could help more people benefit from modern weight loss solutions. In a recent study published in The New England Journal of Medicine, the pill lowered blood sugar levels and weight in people with type 2 diabetes.

The drug contains the GLP-1 hormone, a key ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, in addition to glucagon. We are at a critical time and supporting science journalism is more important than ever. Science News and our parent organization, the Society for Science, need your help to strengthen scientific literacy and ensure that important societal decisions are made with science in mind. The next breakthrough drug may not be available until at least 2027, but the leading candidates in production give a good sense of what this market could look like in years to come. It’s cheaper to manufacture and transport a pill than the injectables, which cost more than $1,000 a month. Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are hoping to get approval for their respective pills in 2026, Azar said.

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The weight loss achieved by the Wegovy pill in the new study is a little lower than with injectables, but “still a really, really good number,” she noted. More options could also help alleviate the shortages seen in the U.S. with Novo Nordisk’s and Lilly’s weight loss drugs. Expanding the number of weight loss drugs available is important for several reasons, experts say.

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Much like current GLP-1 injections, oral orforglipron was well tolerated, with the main side-effects being gastrointestinal-related and mild-to-moderate severity. Importantly, treatment discontinuation on all three doses was lower than those taking the placebo. When people took the Wegovy pill exactly as they should, their average weight loss increased to 16.6% in the trial.

Already, scientists have shown that GLP-1 drugs like semaglutide can lower the risk of heart attack and stroke, reduce signs of kidney and liver disease and treat sleep apnea, among other effects. Scientists have also uncovered hints that semaglutide and its relatives could tamp down addiction and even cut the risk of certain cancers. The present study results revealed a significant delay in alcohol’s effects in cases compared to controls. Specifically, the former cohort’s BrAC levels rose much more slowly than in the control group, with observed between-group differences being most pronounced in the first 20 minutes. A Novo Nordisk executive told Reuters that projections from the data suggest it could help people lose even more, up to 25% of their weight, over a longer timeline.

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Participants were randomized to receive either 6, 12, or 36 milligrams of orforglipron or a placebo pill. The lowest dose of orforglipron resulted in less than 8 percent loss of body weight, or about 18 pounds, and the middle dose led to a 9 percent reduction, or 21 pounds. In comparison, the injectable version of Wegovy led to an average weight loss of 15% of body weight after 68 weeks in a previous study, according to the company. In a phase 3 study of adults in China who were overweight or had obesity, researchers found that after 48 weeks, a 6-milligram dose of the drug led to an average body weight reduction of 14.4%.

That means it could lead to more weight loss than current medications like Ozempic, Wegovy, and Mounjaro, comparable to bariatric surgery. While GLP-1 drugs have paved the way for a new era of healthcare, they have some drawbacks. They need to be injected (a draw-back for some patients), that injection must be administered once a week for effects to last, and manufacturers struggled to keep up with demand. Almost 7% of study participants permanently stopped taking the pill because of adverse effects, compared to almost 6% with a placebo.

• In a phase 2 trial of people who were overweight or had obesity, Boehringer Ingelheim’s survodutide, which uses both GLP-1 and glucagon, led to weight loss of 19% at 46 weeks.
• A challenge with developing a more effective pill has been how to improve its bioavailability—the amount of drug that enters circulation and has an active effect.
• When people took the Wegovy pill exactly as they should, their average weight loss increased to 16.6% in the trial.

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In a phase 2 trial of people who were overweight or had obesity, Boehringer Ingelheim’s survodutide, which uses both GLP-1 and glucagon, led to weight loss of 19% at 46 weeks. Another phase 2 study in people with MASH and fibrosis found that 83% of participants also showed improvement in MASH. Wharton hopes both oral drugs will be available to consumers by 2026, though that depends how quickly they move through the FDA’s approval process. Right now, many people, especially those from marginalized populations, can’t access GLP-1 medications, for financial or other reasons. These results strongly support the need for larger, randomized clinical trials to confirm these effects and explore the potential of repurposing GLP-1 RAs as a novel treatment for reducing harmful alcohol consumption. This present study provides preliminary evidence consistent with the idea that GLP-1 RAs alter the body’s response to alcohol through a potentially peripheral mechanism.

Drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy have completely transformed how we manage both diabetes and obesity. With plenty of clinical research and real-world success stories, these medications are bringing hope to millions who are struggling with obesity. On Sunday, Lilly released new data about retatrutide, an injectable drug that combines GLP-1 and glucagon, plus another hormone called GIP. In a statement published Thursday (April 17), Lilly shared the topline results of a late-stage trial of orforglipron. However, as of yet, GLP-1s are all injectable medications that require refrigeration, The New York Times reported.

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Eli Lilly says it plans to submit orforglipron for regulatory review by the end of the year. Eli Lilly says more detailed results will be presented in September at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes annual meeting and published in a peer-reviewed journal. In an earlier trial, retatrutide helped people lose, on average, about 24% of their body weight, the equivalent of about 58 pounds — greater weight loss than any other drug on the market. Dr. Scott Harris, Altimmune’s chief medical officer, said the drug has been shown to help people lose weight, as well as provide health benefits to the liver and heart. Some studies have suggested that semaglutide, the active ingredient in Ozempic and Wegovy, can cause muscle loss. Trial participants on the highest dose lost an average of 27.3 lb (12.4%) at 72 weeks, and 59.6% of participants on this dose lost at least 10% of their body weight.

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That effect is about the same as what was seen in separate trials of Ozempic and Mounjaro, another GLP-1, The New York Times reported. An experimental pill may work just as well as injectable, Ozempic-style drugs at treating type 2 diabetes, early trial results suggest. A pill like orforglipron requires no injector pen and no refrigeration and it’s relatively easy to manufacture, Drucker says — all of which should cut costs. “One would hope,” he says, “that some of that reduced expense would be passed on to consumers.” Today, injectable GLP-1 medications can run about $500 per new ozempic experimental glp-1 drug month for patients paying out-of-pocket. It’s too early to know how much the pill will cost or how insurance companies might cover it, a Lilly spokesperson said.

An Eli Lilly employee collects product during the manufacturing of orforglipron, an investigational oral GLP-1 drug, at a Lilly facility. New clinical trials show that orforglipron and another oral drug help people with obesity lose weight. The study used data from 20 adult (21+ years) participants (July 2023 to May 2024), half of whom were administered a maintenance dose (minimum 4 weeks) of GLP-1 RAs (cases). Because this was not a randomized trial, the study compared participants already taking GLP-1 RAs with matched controls not using these drugs. The first GLP-1 receptor agonist to receive FDA approval was exenatide, marketed as Byetta, in 2005. Derived from the saliva of the Gila monster, a lizard native to the southwestern United States, exenatide mimicked the effects of human GLP-1.

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• Based in NYC, she also remains heavily involved in dance and performs in local choreographers’ work.
• A pill version could be much more appealing for patients who can’t stand needles or just find a daily pill more convenient.
• It comes as rival Eli Lilly is hoping to get its own GLP-1 drug in pill form approved as well.
• « Anti-obesity medications are emerging at an astonishing pace, » Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist and obesity medicine specialist, told Business Insider.
• The most common was nausea, which was suffered by a third of participants in the highest-dose group; constipation was experienced by about a quarter of patients in that group, as were diarrhea and vomiting.

In April, the pharmaceutical company Pfizer announced it would stop developing danuglipron, making it the second medication the company has discontinued because of potentially dangerous liver side effects. Those drugs have different molecular structures than orforglipron, Wharton says, which could explain why orforglipron didn’t cause the same trouble. Two new medications taken by mouth can help trim body weight in people living with obesity, scientists report in two studies published September 16 and 17 in the New England Journal of Medicine.

The weight loss effects of semaglutide have led to its approval for obesity treatment under the brand name Wegovy. Clinical studies have shown that patients using semaglutide for obesity can achieve significant and sustained weight loss, improving their overall health and reducing the risk of obesity-related complications. Researchers found that patients who got the highest dose of the drug lost on average 15.6% of their body weight after 48 weeks, compared to the 2.2% body weight loss seen in patients who got a placebo. In similar trials, semaglutide was shown to reduce body weight by around 15% after 68 weeks. Novo Nordisk has a GLP-1 pill for diabetes, Rybelsus, but it’s not as effective for weight loss as injectable versions and was never approved for weight management. A challenge with developing a more effective pill has been how to improve its bioavailability—the amount of drug that enters circulation and has an active effect.