Ozempic in a pill? New oral drug may work as well as Ozempic-style injectables

An experimental pill may work just as well as injectable, Ozempic-style drugs at treating type 2 diabetes, early trial results suggest.

The oral medication, called orforglipron, belongs to a class of drugs called glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonists. This class also includes Ozempic, which is made by Novo Nordisk and approved as a blood-sugar control aid in type 2 diabetes, as well as a treatment for people with type 2 and either heart disease or kidney disease. It also includes Wegovy, which has the same active ingredient as Ozempic but is approved for chronic weight management.

GLP-1 agonists are best known as weight-loss drugs, and likely drive weight loss in part by slowing digestion and curbing appetite by messing with hunger signals in the body. In diabetes, the drugs help lower blood sugar by boosting levels of insulin, the hormone responsible for shuttling sugar out of the blood.

However, as of yet, GLP-1s are all injectable medications that require refrigeration, The New York Times reported. It's possible that introducing a daily pill that can achieve the same results could potentially increase the availability and use of the medications, Lilly, the drug's maker, suggests.

Related: Ozempic-style drugs tied to more than 60 health benefits and risks in biggest study-of-its-kind

"Injections cannot be the solution for billions of people around the world," Dr. Daniel Skovronsky, chief scientific officer of Lilly, told The New York Times.

In a statement published Thursday (April 17), Lilly shared the topline results of a late-stage trial of orforglipron. The trial's results have not yet been published in a scientific journal but will be in the future, and the results will also be presented at the American Diabetes Association's 85th Scientific Sessions, the statement noted.

The trial included 559 adults with type 2 diabetes whose blood sugar was not adequately controlled with diet and exercise alone. For just over nine months, the participants took either orforglipron or a placebo pill daily. Those taking orforglipron got one of three doses: 3 milligrams, 12 mg or 36 mg.

After 40 weeks, the trial runners checked everyone's blood sugar levels using an A1C test, which can reveal average blood-sugar levels from the preceding three months. The test gives results as a percentage, with 6.5% or higher typically indicating diabetes and 5.7% to 6.4% signaling prediabetes. The participants in the trial started out with an average A1C of 8%.

After 40 weeks, the groups who took orforglipron saw their A1C drop by 1.3% to 1.6%, on average, while the placebo fell only 0.1%. 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.

Around two-thirds of those who took the highest dose of the drug had their levels fall to less than or equal to 6.5%, the threshold for diabetes. The high-dose group also lost an average of 16 pounds (7.3 kilograms) each. The other dosing groups lost about 10 to 12 pounds (4.4 to 5.5. kg), while the placebo group lost about 3 pounds (1.3 kg).

"Given that participants had not yet reached a weight plateau at the time the study ended, it appears that full weight reduction was not yet attained," the Lilly statement noted.

The most common side effects were mild to moderate and were similar to those seen with other GLP-1s. For example, diarrhea, nausea, indigestion, constipation and vomiting were more common in the treatment groups than the placebo. Between 3% and 8% of the participants in each treatment group opted to stop taking the medication, compared to 1% of the placebo.

Lilly said it would seek approval from the Food and Drug Administration later this year to market orforglipron for obesity and early in 2026 for diabetes, The New York Times reported. In addition to the diabetes trial described above, the company is also testing the pill in adults with obesity or who are overweight with at least one weight-related medical problem. They're also investigating its use as a treatment for high blood pressure and sleep apnea in people with obesity.

The price of the pill has not yet been announced.