Trial results published in the Lancet suggest the new appetite suppressing pill by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly worked best for patients with Type 2 diabetes, with two positive outcomes
A new weight loss pill developed by the makers of Mounjaro jabs has been found to work best for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The new appetite suppressing tablet called orforglipron saw users lose more weight and better control their blood sugar. In a trial of 1,500 people it was compared to the only current weight loss pill on the market, semaglutide – which is also sold as injections under brand names Wegovy and Ozempic.
Orforglipron has been developed by pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly which produces the injection Mounjaro, which was dubbed the “King Kong” of weight loss drugs after trials showed users lost a fifth of their body weight on average. In pill form, the weight loss is generally less dramatic but previous trials showed users still lost 11% of their body weight over a 17 month period.
READ MORE: New weight loss pill by makers of Mounjaro has dramatic impact during trialREAD MORE: Urgent warning about contaminated weight loss injections from UK Government
Ensure our latest headlines always appear at the top of your Google Search by making us a Preferred Source. Click here to activate or add us as your Preferred Source in your Google search settings.
The new findings, published in the Lancet, showed people taking the new drug lost between 6% to 8% of their body weight in a year, while those taking semaglutide in pill form lost 4% to 5%. Researchers hailed the result as an “important advancement” in type 2 diabetes care.
Weight loss jabs have been hailed as transformative in tackling obesity in people carrying dangerous amounts of excess weight but there are global shortages. The NHS does not have the capacity to offer them to everyone who is eligible so is starting with those dangerously obese via specialist NHS weight loss services.
It has been estimated that around 2.2 million Britons are having weight loss jabs, mostly through costly private prescriptions. Experts believe that making appetite-suppressing drugs available on the NHS in pill form is key to widening access to more of the population.
The trial of orforglipron included patients at 131 medical research centres and hospitals in Argentina, China, Japan, Mexico and the US.
Obesity expert Professor Naveed Sattar, of Glasgow University, who was not involved in teh research, said: “These are important findings. The more effective oral medicines we have to help people with type 2 diabetes lose weight and keep it off, the better. Excess weight is the major driver of type 2 diabetes, and it also contributes to higher blood pressure and abnormal lipid levels.”
Researchers said that orforglipron has the advantage of not having to be taken on an empty stomach. semaglutide can only be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before a patient eats and when they have only consumed a small cup of water.
However the new pill did seem to cause more side effects on average, such as nausea and stomach cramps. In some cases these were bad enough that patients had to stop taking the pill.
Lead researcher Julio Rosenstock, working with the pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly, concluded: “Orforglipron represents a potential new therapeutic option for individuals with type 2 diabetes.”
Douglas Twenefour, clinical lead at Diabetes UK, said: “GLP-1 medications, alongside appropriate support, are effective tools for both weight loss and type 2 diabetes management, so we welcome these latest findings.
“It’s vital that people living with obesity and type 2 diabetes have access to a range of safe and effective treatments to ensure they can find the option that best fits their preference and clinical needs.
“If approved, an oral option like orforglipron could also support more people to reduce their risk of type 2 diabetes and help tackle the impact of ill health caused by obesity.”
