WEDNESDAY, Aug. 27, 2025 (HealthDay News) — Eli Lilly says its new once-daily pill, orforglipron, helped people lose significant weight and lower blood sugar in a late-stage clinical trial.

The company plans to seek global regulatory approval later this year.

The study included people with overweight, obesity and type 2 diabetes. Participants who took the highest dose of the drug (36 milligrams) lost an average of 22.9 pounds — about 10.5% of their body weight — after 72 weeks. The pill also lowered A1C levels — a measure of blood sugar control — by 1.8% on average, CNN reported.

Those results, which have not been peer-reviewed, were lower than weight loss figures announced earlier this month, when the company reported that the highest dose helped patients shed an average 27.3 pounds, or 12.4% of their body weight.

Unlike Rybelsus, the only semaglutide pill currently available, orforglipron doesn’t require strict fasting or limited water intake.

The pill offers an alternative to injections, which some people find difficult or unpleasant.

Eli Lilly says side effects were mostly mild to moderate, with upset stomach being the most common.

If approved, orforglipron could offer millions of people with obesity or type 2 diabetes another treatment option. The company is also testing whether the pill may help with other conditions, including high blood pressure and sleep apnea.

With earlier promising trial results, the company has been mass-producing the pills for months.

“That way, we’ll have adequate supply to meet demand,” Dr. Dan Skovronsky, Lilly’s chief scientific officer, told CNN.

More information

Cleveland Clinic has more on GLP-1 agonists.

SOURCE: CNN, Aug. 26, 2025