It's Basically Ozempic, but in Pill Form

Scared of needles but intrigued by injectable drugs that help manage blood sugar levels? You'll be happy to know Eli Lilly has created a GLP-1 agonist in pill form, and it may be just as effective at lowering blood sugar and aiding weight loss in people with Type 2 diabetes as Ozempic and Mounjaro, according to the results of a phase 3 clinical trial announced Thursday, per the New York Times. GLP-1 agonists mimic glucagon-like peptide-1, a hormone produced in the gut that regulates blood sugar, appetite, and digestion. Injectable GLP-1 drugs are peptides, short chains of amino acids, but peptides are digested by the stomach.

That means pills containing the GLP-1 peptide (just one, Novo Nordisk's Rybelsus, approved for Type 2 diabetes, is available in the US) aren't as effective as injectables. But Eli Lilly's orforglipron is "a nonpeptide that acts exactly like a peptide," per the Times. It can be taken any time of day with or without food and it doesn't need to be refrigerated. In the trial involving 559 people with Type 2 diabetes, who took the pill or a placebo daily for 40 weeks, orforglipron was found to lower average blood sugar levels by 1.3% to 1.6%, about the same as in trials of Ozempic and Mounjaro. About 65% of those who took orforglipron saw blood sugar levels fall into the normal range, according to the results, not yet published in a peer-reviewed journal.

Participants receiving the highest dose lost up to 16 pounds, or 8% of their body weight, per NBC News. That's "similar to that achieved in 40 weeks with Ozempic but slightly less than with Mounjaro in unrelated trials," per the Times. Orforglipron's side effects—including diarrhea, constipation, nausea, and vomiting—were also similar. Eli Lilly, which has already made a billion pills, plans to seek FDA approval to market the drug for obesity this year and for diabetes in early 2026. Ongoing trials are testing how the pill performs in people without diabetes. A phase 2 clinical trial published in 2023 found individuals without diabetes lost up to 15% of their body weight taking orforglipron over 36 weeks, per NBC. (Pfizer just paused development of its oral obesity drug over safety concerns.)