A landmark study presented at the European Congress on Obesity in Istanbul suggests that millions of Britons could take daily weight loss pills for life to maintain a slim figure after discontinuing injections. The research indicates that appetite-suppressing drugs in tablet form, specifically orforglipron, could help sustain weight loss achieved through injectable medications like Mounjaro.
Study details
The trial, involving 376 patients in the United States, found that those who switched to orforglipron maintained 75% of their weight loss after one year. The pill is manufactured by Eli Lilly, the same company behind the Mounjaro injection. The findings were published in the journal Nature Medicine.
Expert insights
Dr. Louis Aronne, study author and director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine in New York, emphasised the potential for lifelong treatment. "A daily pill – its treatment for life. For hypertension, its treatments for life, you take a pill every day. Diabetes you hope to take a pill for life and the diabetes doesn't come back. The beauty of treating obesity is you are treating all of these things," he said.
Dr. Aronne also highlighted the possibility of earlier intervention: "What would happen if you started treating people with a BMI of 25 or 27 and they never got to that? You never get to the point of severe obesity. I think that is a very appealing model to me but it has to be proven."
Current landscape
Approximately 2.5 million people in the UK currently use weight loss injections, mostly through expensive private prescriptions. The NHS plans to roll out treatments like Wegovy and Mounjaro to up to 3.4 million people over the next 12 years. However, side effects such as nausea, constipation, and diarrhoea often lead to discontinuation.
Pill advantages
Orforglipron is a "non-peptide small molecule" that can survive stomach acid and be absorbed by the gut, unlike injectable peptides that require refrigeration and specific administration protocols. The pill does not need to be taken with water or before meals, making it more convenient.
Kenneth Custer, executive vice president at Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, said: "We've been waiting for a scalable solution and that's what we have here. We've made tremendous investments in advance of this launch to be able to supply it at the time of approval in every market where it's submitted."
Regulatory status
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is currently considering an application from Eli Lilly to approve orforglipron for sale in the UK. The drug has already been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.
Expert commentary
Jason Murphy, weight loss expert at pharmacy chain Chemist4U, called the development "game-changing." He said: "Many people who want to start weight loss medications have said they are uncomfortable injecting themselves, or feel a sense of stigma and shame. Beyond this research showing how effective pills are, they will also massively widen access for those who were previously hesitant."
He added: "This latest research shows that in the near future, we could have millions more people accessing weight loss drugs than ever before, as pills reshape the way we tackle obesity as a nation."
Implications
Experts believe that weight loss drugs could prevent over 200 diseases linked to obesity and may eventually be prescribed by GPs to those who are barely overweight. The study showed that among former Mounjaro users, 74.7% maintained weight loss after a year on the pill, compared to 49.2% on placebo. For former semaglutide users, 79.3% maintained weight loss versus 37.6% on placebo.
Dr. Aronne concluded: "The idea that you treat obesity first and not waiting until someone has a severe problem body mass index of 35 is appealing. The average patient we see has a BMI of 38, is on seven medications, and has sleep apnoea. Treating earlier could prevent severe obesity."
