Orforglipron is to be a “convenient tablet to take once a day” – this is how David Ricks, the general director of Eli Lilly, quoted by the “Financial Times” said about the tested drug.
As Ricks assured, orforglipron could be quickly produced and “introduced on the market on a large scale” if it was approved by the regulatory authority.
Eli Lilly plans that this year will submit a request for approval of the drug in the treatment of weight loss, and in the treatment of diabetes in 2026.
After the results of the third phase tests, which the analysts cited by “FT” described as “impressive”, the actions of Chugai Pharmaceutical, a Japanese company that invented the drug and granted him a license of Eli Lilly in 2018, increased on Friday in Tokyo by 16 %, to a record level.
Drugs for slimming. “Great result”
Miki Sogi, an analyst at Bernstein, said that the percentage of patients who stopped taking the medicine due to side effects was comparable to the percentage that affects existing weight loss injections, which makes the test results “great result”.
According to “FT”, The third phase test showed that the drug reduces blood sugar levels by an average of 1.3 to 1.6 percent. and reduces body weight by an average of 8 percent.when he was taken at the highest dose. On average, the body weight of the study participants did not reach Plateau at the end of the study, so they could probably lose more if they used the medicine longer.
Drugs for obesity: the producers' race is underway. Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, Pfizer
Naveed Sattar, a professor of cardiometabolic medicine at the University of Glasgow, said that these are “important results”, and having a new pill that reduces blood sugar and weight will be “critical for future treatment of type 2 diabetes”.
Positive results strengthen the potential of Eli Lilly in the treatment of obesity, because the company races with the rival of Novo Nordisk for dominance on the market. Wegova and Ozempic from Novo Nordisk still have the majority of market share, but Zepbound and Mounjaro are catching up quickly.
Other drug manufacturers are also trying to enter the market, but at the beginning of this week Pfizer gave up the attempt to create a slimming tablet after the patient in one study experienced “potential liver damage caused by the drug.”
Source: Financial Times
