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Eli Lilly’s weight loss pill orforglipron clears its latest trial, paving way for approval
Eli Lilly Biotechnology Center is shown in San Diego, California, U.S. March 1, 2023.
Mike Blake | Reuters
Eli Lilly on Tuesday said its daily weight loss pill helped patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes shed weight in a late-stage trial, meeting the study’s main goal and clearing the way for the company to file for approval of the drug globally.
The treatment is inching closer to becoming a new, needle-free alternative in the highly lucrative market for weight loss and diabetes drugs called GLP-1s. More convenient pills could boost supply for the treatments and make them easier to access than the pricey weekly injections currently dominating the space. The Eli Lilly pill also would not come with dietary restrictions, in contrast to a similar oral treatment from chief rival Novo Nordisk.
Eli Lilly shares climbed more than 4% Tuesday.
The highest dose of the pill, orforglipron, helped patients lose 10.5% of their weight, or 22.9 pounds, on average at 72 weeks, compared to 2.2% weight loss among those who took a placebo. The drug’s weight loss in the study was 9.6% when analyzing all patients regardless of discontinuations.
Eli Lilly’s pill met the trial’s other goals of helping patients lower their hemoglobin A1c, a measure of blood sugar levels. By the end of the study, most patients no longer met the criteria for Type 2 diabetes based on that metric. The rate of side effects and treatment discontinuations in the study, called ATTAIN-2, appeared to be generally consistent with two recent phase three trials on Eli Lilly’s drug.
Eli Lilly said it now has the full clinical trial data package required to file for approvals of the drug for chronic weight management with global regulators. The pharmaceutical giant expects to launch the pill around the world “this time next year,” CEO David Ricks told CNBC in early August.
In an interview, Eli Lilly’s Chief Scientific Officer Daniel Skovronsky, said the pill had “unprecedented efficacy” in patients with obesity and Type 2 diabetes, who typically have a more difficult time losing weight compared to those without diabetes. Skovronsky said he hopes that diabetes patients will be able to use the pill earlier in their disease to slow down its progression.
Existing GLP-1 injections have shown greater weight loss than Eli Lilly’s pill, but having an oral option that offers more than 10% for patients with both obesity and Type 2 diabetes is “actually very good, so that’s positive,” said Dr. Caroline Apovian, co-director of the Center for Weight Management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s Hospital.
But she called it “concerning” that more patients – 10.6% of those on the highest dose – stopped taking the pill due to side effects compared with what has been seen in separate studies on the existing injections, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk‘s Wegovy. Apovian said patients and their prescribers will have to weigh the risks and benefits of the pill and the injections when deciding which to take, including convenience, side effects and efficacy.
The side effects of Eli Lilly’s pill were mainly gastrointestinal, such as nausea and vomiting, and were mild to moderate in severity. An estimated 23.1% of those who took the highest dose experienced vomiting, while 36.4% and 27.4% had nausea and diarrhea, respectively.
Around 20% of patients stopped taking the pill for any reason, which is roughly the same rate as the placebo group. Skovronsky said that reflects a combination of reasons apart from side effects. Those can include patients who wanted to stop participating in a trial because they were able to access another obesity medication, or those who didn’t lose enough weight because they were taking a lower dose of the drug.
But he said most patients stay on the drug, and said “the most important thing here is the scale of the opportunity,” referring to the number of people around the world could benefit from orforglipron. More than 100 million adults in the U.S. alone have obesity, according to Centers for Disease Control and Prevention data.
Apovian said she’s most excited about an oral option entering the market not because of how much weight loss it can promote, but rather its potential to expand access to obesity treatments, especially since a pill is much easier to manufacture than an injection. Apovian hopes Eli Lilly’s pill will be priced lower than injections — which cost roughly $1,000 per month before insurance — and receive broader insurance coverage.
Tuesday’s results are the third set of late-stage data the company has released on orforglipron this year. In April, the pill succeeded in a shorter phase three trial on diabetes patients without obesity.
Earlier this month, the drug also met the goals of a separate study on patients with obesity and not diabetes, but fell short of Wall Street’s expectations. The pill’s weight loss was higher in that trial compared to Tuesday’s data, but “that’s expected,” given the differences in patient populations, said Dr. Jaime Almandoz, medical director of the Weight Wellness Program at UT Southwestern Medical Center.
Overall, some doctors have touted the pill’s weight loss in the trials, and some analysts say it will still be a viable competitor in the space due to factors such as its easier manufacturing and lack of dietary restrictions.
“The convenience and specifically the lack of fasting requirements and water restrictions with orforglipron is likely one of the main differentiators when people think about other oral agents with similar effectiveness for weight change and A1C levels,” said Almandoz.
He said a pill creates additional opportunities for individualized patient care “where there’s more autonomy.”
For example, some people may be hesitant to take injections for weight loss, said Dr. Andrew Krafston, clinical associate professor at the division of metabolism, endocrinology and diabetes at the University of Michigan
“While this is a surmountable barrier for many, oral therapy aligns with traditional medication treatment and may have higher acceptability,” he said, adding that pills are less likely to be in short supply.
Detailed trial data
The trial followed more than 1,600 people, who were randomized to receive three different target doses of Eli Lilly’s pill or a placebo. Patients started at a lower dose of the drug and gradually increased it at four-week intervals to reach their final target dose.
More than 50% of patients on the highest dose of Eli Lilly’s treatment lost at least 10% of their weight in the trial, while 28.4% of those participants lost at least 15%. Across the different groups, the company did not disclose how many patients lost at least 5% of their weight.
Orforglipron “may not be the answer” for patients who are morbidly overweight, said Howard Weintraub, clinical director of the Center for the Prevention of Cardiovascular Disease at NYU Langone Heart. But he said, “for a lot of people who need to lose a fair amount of weight, losing 10% can make a big diference.”
Orforglipron lowered A1C by an average of 1.3% to 1.8% across different doses at 72 weeks, from a starting level of 8.1%. Around 75% of participants taking the highest dose achieved an A1C of 6.5% or less, which is at or below what the American Diabetes Association defines as diabetes.
Eli Lilly’s pill also improved key cardiovascular risk factors.
“We now have study after study with GLP-1 agonists showing that they reduce very important outcomes, which is what I do every day as a preventive cardiologist,” Weintraub said. “I try my very best to prevent them from having heart attack, stroke and death.”
Eli Lilly’s pill works in a similar way to Wegovy, Ozempic and Novo Nordisk’s diabetes pill Rybelsus, targeting a gut hormone called GLP-1 to suppress a person’s appetite and regulate blood sugar. Novo Nordisk is also seeking approval of an oral version of Wegovy, which could come by year-end.
But unlike those three medications, Eli Lilly’s pill is not a peptide medication. That means it is absorbed more easily by the body and does not require dietary restrictions like Rybelsus or oral Wegovy does.
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Top stocks to buy today: Stock recommendations for August 28, 2025 – check list – The Times of India
Top stock market recommendations: According to Aakash K Hindocha, Deputy Vice President – WM Research, Nuvama Professional Clients Group, Nykaa, Kaynes, and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories are the top buy calls for today. Here’s his view on Nifty, Bank Nifty and the top stock picks for August 28, 2025:Index View: NiftyAfter an inside bar formation on Monday, Nifty opened with a gap down reeling all throughout the session ahead of its trading holiday on Wednesday. The index has closed below its trailing support of 24800 allowing for further downside to be opened for 24500 / 24350. Nifty has also formed a bearish head and shoulders formation on daily charts with a neck line support seen at 24450. A break below the same post monthly expiry could reel in further pressure on the index.Bank NiftyUnderperforming Nifty, Bank has broken its support of 55050 opening for a test of sub 54000 odd levels to begin with. The index has also closed at a 3.5 month low on daily charts ahead of its monthly expiry scheduled on Thursday. 55000 is likely to act as resistance on the upside while the index slides below sub 54000 levels in the coming week.NYKAA (BUY):
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- Stop Loss: 223
- Target: 252
Stock has been gaining traction ever since its 3 year triangle breakout seen in June 2025. For now NYKAA has given the highest ever close in past 3 years of trading along with a huge cup and handle breakout on daily and weekly charts. This opens up for a 18-20% trading buy target on the stock, yet we would advise for an initial uptick being 250+ on this leg.KAYNES (BUY):
- LCP: 6197
- Stop Loss: 5980
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After a cup and handle breakout in early August 2025, stock has been consolidating near the breakout zone for the past 4 weeks now. Last week’s price action suggests further move northwards from CMP as the stock has completed multiple retests of its ongoing breakout.Dr Reddy’s Laboratories (BUY):
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Sustaining above its 200 DMA support, DRREDDY’s has also given a bullish flag breakout on daily charts. This allows its initial upside to open for the 1350-1360 zone where it could meet another potential breakout on upside.(Disclaimer: Recommendations and views on the stock market and other asset classes given by experts are their own. These opinions do not represent the views of The Times of India)
NEW DELHI: Government is going to push for bridging the gaps on several contentious issues in trade talks with the European Union next month, while also demanding that the trading bloc offer concessions on carbon tax on the lines of the deal with the US, an official said Wednesday.“We are in the last mile, quite a few things are narrowing down. There are a handful of major issues and we are trying to narrow the gaps and then leave it to the leaders to take a political call,” the official said ahead of the next round of talks scheduled for Sept 8-12. EU commissioner for trade and economic security MaroS Šefcovicis also expected to travel to the Capital after the official level meeting to hold consultations with commerce and industry minister Piyush Goyal.Both sides have set an year-end deadline to finalise the agreement and India is keen that it fills the missing link in Europe, having signed agreements with the UK and the four nation European Free Trade Association, comprising Switzerland, Norway, Iceland and Liechtenstein.The deals are part of efforts to push for a diversified trade basket that provides Indian exporters access to crucial markets. India already has trade pacts, from Australia to Asean, the UAE and Mercosur countries, and is seeking more deals.Sources suggested that govt will help exporters diversify, with the focus expanded from 20 countries to 50, while also coming out with export promotion measures to overcome the challenge of US tariffs. Intensive consultations are lined up with exporters in the coming days.Govt officials said based on the feedback, strategies to offset the impact of the US tariffs, including support from the Centre, will be devised.Outreach in countries, including the UK, Japan, and South Korea, to push textiles exports are also planned, with similar initiatives planned for other sectors. In case of textiles for instance, 40 potential markets have been identified and in each case a targeted approach is proposed, positioning Indian companies as reliable suppliers of quality, sustainable, and innovative textile products. Official said that export promotion councils (EPCs) will be the mainstay of the diversification strategy.
More than 30 baby sleeping bags found on online marketplaces including Amazon and eBay pose a suffocation risk, according to an investigation.
Which? said online marketplaces had been allowing the sale of baby sleeping bags similar or identical to products that were officially recalled by the Office for Product Safety and Standards (OPSS) for suffocation risks.
A common characteristic of the products found by Which? were hoods which could cover a baby’s head and face and result in suffocation, the watchdog said.
The inclusion of hoods does not comply with the British Standards Institution’s safety standards for this reason.
Some of the sleeping bags Which? looked at, such as a teddy bear-style blanket on Amazon Marketplace, did not have arm holes, despite sleeping bags needing them to meet the safety standard.
Those without can cause a baby to slip down inside the sleeping bag, covering their face and risking suffocation.
Which? also found a sack-style sleeping bag listing on eBay which showed a baby being “positively swamped” by the item.
The consumer group also found five listings on Etsy that it was “concerned about”, with two appearing to be identical to recalled products, and the other three in a similar style and listed as sleeping bags.
Which? is urging shoppers to avoid baby sleeping bags with hoods or excess material, such as large bows or other novelty additions, which risk covering a baby’s head and face while they move around in their sleep.
It is best to always use a sleeping bag with arm holes as these help to stop babies slipping down inside the bag.
Other items to avoid included products sold as multipurpose items, such as a swaddle, stroller cover and baby cocoon as well as a sleeping bag, to ensure individual items conform to safety standards.
Which? said it was concerned the products continued to be sold despite market surveillance undertaken by the OPSS earlier this year.
The regulator undertook test purchasing for a range of items sold online, including baby sleeping products, and worked with online marketplaces to remove the listings.
However Which? said it found 35 potentially lethal sleeping bags still being sold just four months later.
Sue Davies, Which? head of consumer protection policy, said: “It’s outrageous that dangerous baby sleeping bags are still being sold on online marketplaces.
“Our previous investigations showed this is part of a wider pattern: unsafe products are removed, only to resurface. The only way to break this cycle is by holding online marketplaces legally accountable, with tough penalties for failures.”
An Amazon spokesman said: “We require all products offered in our store to comply with applicable laws, regulations and Amazon policies.
“The products flagged are not in scope of the safety alerts shared by Which?.
“If customers have concerns about an item they’ve purchased, we encourage them to contact our customer service directly so we can investigate and help resolve their issue.”
An eBay spokeswoman said: “Consumer safety is a top priority for eBay. We work diligently to keep our site safe and prevent prohibited listings through seller compliance audits, block filter algorithms for unsafe listings, and AI-supported monitoring by our team of in-house specialists.
“These proactive measures have prevented millions of potentially unsafe products from being listed every year. Listings that violate eBay policy, including those identified in this investigation, are swiftly removed.”
Etsy has been approached for comment.
Canada, Brazil to resume Canada-Mercosur FTA talks in October
Top stocks to buy today: Stock recommendations for August 28, 2025 – check list – The Times of India
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