Madison Burgess
A new weight loss pill that's 'cheaper' than the jabs could be available in the US as early as next year, a new study has revealed.
The once-a-day tablet could offer 'more access' to weight loss medication, experts have said after research confirmed the tablet can help people shed up to a tenth of their body weight.
It comes at a time when drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy and Mounjaro are on the rise around the world, with the former only being approved to help treat type 2 diabetes.
It's expected to be cheaper than weight loss injections and could potentially make the medication available to a wider group of people who currently cannot afford to pay the high cost of the jabs.
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The new pill, called orforglipron, is a GLP-1 agonist like the jabs, a type of medication which helps lower blood sugar levels, slows the digestion of food and can reduce appetite.
Although the amount of weight loss seen among people taking orforglipron is not as much as among those taking something like Mounjaro, researchers say it offers 'more convenience' for patients.
The new study has reported on its safety and effectiveness among a large group of adults, bringing it a step closer to becoming available, with patients in America expected to start taking the drug in early 2026, before it's rolled out to the rest of the world afterwards.
The study in question tracked 1,444 obese people across 10 countries who were given varying strengths of the pill, with some also given a placebo, for comparison.
All of the people involved were also given lifestyle advice and were tracked for 16 months.
Those who took the highest strength of orforglipron available in the study, 36mg, lost an average of 9.6 percent of their body weight during this time, while those who took 12mg tablets lost seven percent of their body weight and those who took the lowest dose, a 6mg tablet, lost 5.1 percent of their body weight.
Researchers also found that as well as helping people lose weight, orforglipron helped reduce blood sugar levels.
As for side effects, which we've seen a wide variety of with the weight loss jabs, the most common adverse events for the pill were reported to be 'mild to moderate gastrointestinal events'.
This isn't too different as the main side effects for the likes of Mounjaro and Ozempic are gastrointestinal such as nausea, vomiting and constipation.
Writing in The Lancet, the authors said: "Orforglipron is simple to administer, with no restrictions on food and water intake or required refrigeration, potentially offering a more convenient option and broader global access to incretin therapy."
Senior author of the study Dr Deborah Horn, medical director of the Centre for Obesity Medicine at UTHealth Houston in the US, told PA: "Because of the safety profile of orforglipron and the predicted much lower cost, it will open the door for many more individuals who need and deserve treatment for their obesity, with or without diabetes, to get care around the world.
“My hope is that orforglipron will be the ‘metformin’ of obesity - a lower cost, broad coverage, low risk, highly effective medication for obesity and many of the inter-related diseases.”
She added that it's important to have a pill version of the drug because it 'removes barriers to care' such as no need no need for cold storage, injections and of course, a lower price.