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Eli Lilly (LLY-4.32%) believes its experimental weight-loss pill could make GLP-1 treatments more accessible worldwide.
“We feel that a product like an oral, orforglipron, could serve a significant amount of patients globally,” Eli Lilly CFO Lucas Montarce said Monday at the Leerink (SIVB) 2025 Global Healthcare Conference.
Montarce laid out several reasons why a pill could broaden access to the GLP-1 class of drugs, which was made famous by Novo Nordisk’s (NVO-9.55%) Ozempic. GLP-1s, or incretin medications, mimic gut hormones that regulate blood sugar and curb appetite. Morgan Stanley (MS-6.57%) analysts anticipate the global market for these drugs will reach $105 billion by 2030.
Montarce said their are many markets where patients prefer an oral option over an injection — like the current GLP-1s on the market. Pills are also cheaper and more simple to produce and distribute than injections, making them easier to scale globally.
Additionally, government and insurance providers may be more likely to cover an oral medication over an injectable, potentially expanding access through public health systems.
Orforglipron is currently in a phase 3 trial. Earlier trials found that it helped users lose an average of nearly 15% of weight after 36 weeks. For comparison, the highest dose of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy resulted in an average weight loss of 15% after 68 weeks in clinical trials. Meanwhile, patients taking the highest dose of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound achieved over 20% weight loss after 72 weeks.
Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told Bloomberg News in January that phase 3 trial results are expected before the middle of 2025. That could lead to regulatory approval for the drug in 2026.
At the time, Ricks said that a pill would be easier to manufacture en masse — and more simple for patients to consume — than rival medications. Most major weight-loss drugs are delivered by weekly injections, including Zepbound, Wegovy, and Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk is also working on a GLP-1 weight-loss pill. Last, year the company said that patients that took a once-daily 50mg dose of its pill, amycretin, lost an average of 10.4% of their weight in just three months, according to an abstract of the study. Trial participants that took two pills lost even more weight, 13.1% at three months.