Eli Lilly and Co. is well on its way to bringing to market an oral Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist (GLP-1 RA) orforglipron. GLP-1’s are the “drugs of the 21st century” because of their proven, and re-proven, success in causing significant weight loss in patients who are, or are not, diabetic. Oral delivery is a huge boon for the drug class because heretofore GLP-1’s were all injectable. An oral delivery option provides patients with a far more acceptable means of administration, and as long as it is equally effective, it will become the preferred method.
Well, it turns out it is—as effective! A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine showed that worldwide, patients who had taken orforglipron for 72 weeks “lost significantly more weight than those on placebo.” In addition, patients lost waist circumference and lowered their systolic BP, LDL-cholesterol, and triglyceride. Those who took 36mg of orforglipron lost 11.9% from their baseline weight—6 times what placebo caused.
Orforglipron can be taken with or without food, requires no special storage or distribution restrictions, and is dosed once daily, all positive factors. Tolerability was in line with that of injectable formulations. This sounds like a significant improvement over what already are very popular, very effective drugs. If efficacy of orforglipron really is equal to injectable formulations, this will increase demand (and Lilly’s stock price) greatly. We shall see.
Reference: McCall B. Oral GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Orforglipron Yields Dose-Dependent Weight Loss Medscape 2025 September 17.
