By Deena Beasley and Manas Mishra
(Reuters) -Eli Lilly’s experimental pill worked as well as blockbuster drug Ozempic to lower weight and blood sugar in a trial of diabetes patients, and the company said it expects to seek regulatory approvals by the end of the year.
Shares jumped 13.3% as the results of the long-awaited trial, the first of several underway on the pill, orforglipron, raised hopes of an effective and easy-to-use treatment reaching a market dominated by weight-loss injections.
The trial showed that type 2 diabetes patients lost 16 pounds, or nearly 8% of their body weight, over 40 weeks. That compares favorably with Novo Nordisk’s injected drug Ozempic, where diabetic patients on the highest dose lost roughly 6% of their body weight.
Lilly said patients hadn’t yet reached a weight plateau at the time the study ended, indicating that patients might lose more weight. The pill lowered blood sugar levels by an average of 1.3%. Ozempic lowered blood sugar levels by 2.1%.
Several companies around the world are developing weight-loss pills, a more convenient option than injections, encouraged by estimates that sales of obesity treatments could hit $150 billion in the coming years. The latest data puts Lilly firmly in the lead in the race for effective oral drugs that can compete with injections.
Lilly said orforglipron’s safety profile was consistent with other drugs belonging to the class of weight-loss treatments known as GLP-1s, allaying some worries over a potential stumbling block to sales.
The “data is fantastic from an efficacy standpoint,” said Kevin Gade, chief operating officer at Bahl & Gaynor, which owns Lilly’s shares.
Lilly said it would report data from another trial for the pill for weight management later in the year. It plans to file for approval with global regulators for weight loss by end of this year and for diabetes next year.
“While this trial alone is very good, this just bodes extremely well for their trial in obesity patients,” said Gade.
The late-stage trial found that 13% to 18% of patients given the drug experienced nausea across doses, compared with 2% on placebo. The rate for diarrhea was 19% to 26% and vomiting 5% to 14%.
“With some concern of elevated rates of nausea and vomiting heading into today’s readout, these result firmly validate the tolerable profile of orforglipron,” said BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman.
On Monday, Pfizer discontinued development of its experimental weight-loss pill danuglipron after a trial patient experienced potential drug-induced liver injury that resolved after the medication was stopped.
