Obesity pills by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk near us
Eli Lilly And Novo Nordisk Prepare to bring their rivalry to the next border of weight loss drugs: pills.
Both companies expect them to launch oral obstacle medication in the USA next year as soon as the regulatory authorities approved them. Daily pills could introduce more people in GLP-1, the class of medicine, which is best known for weekly recordings.
After Lilly’s pill had produced less weight loss in a recently expected attempt in the late stage, it raised new questions about how far the oral medication is accepted and which competitive company the room will dominate.
The doctors will take a closer look at how Lilly and Novos pills compare in the coming months when Lilly publish the results of a head-to-head attempt by the two, said Dan Skovronsky, Chief Scientific Officer from Lilly, in an exclusive interview with CNBC. The main goal of the study is to measure how much the pills can reduce blood sugar levels in people with type -2 diabetes, but also measure weight loss.
“We would not have undertaken this head-to-head-phase-three-control study, unless we had a lot of confidence that Offorglipron would do well compared to oral Semaglutide,” said Skovronky.
Nikos Pekiaridis | Nurphoto | Getty pictures
He warned against making comparisons across tests that do not compare the medication directly, where the Novo pill looked more effective and led to fewer interruptions. In the meantime, Martin Holst Lange said from Novo in a separate interview that the data speak for himself.
Novo’s upcoming obesity pill is an oral version of his weekly shot Wegovy. Lilly’s pill is a new medication called Orforlipron, which differs from his dash of Zepbound. Lilly’s shot If the gold standard is in relation to effectiveness, Skovronky said. It can help people lose more than 20% of their body weight.
Neither Novos pill nor Lillys oral drugs are as effective as Zepbound. With the highest dose, Orforglipron has generated a weight loss of about 12%, while oral Semaglutid led to around 17%. This raises the question of how many people will choose a pill if it means less weight loss.
Nevertheless, Wall Street is expecting a greater introduction in the coming years in the coming years. Analysts see oral drugs that, according to data from the evaluation, make up about 20% of the estimated market for $ 80 billion for GLP-1 fatty migration medication.
The logos of the Danish drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk, manufacturer of the blockbuster diabetes and weight loss treatments Ozempic and Wegovy can be seen outside the Theri building when the company presented the annual report at Novo Nordisk in Bagsvaerd, Denmark, on February 5, 2025.
Mads Claus Rasmussen | AFP | Getty pictures
Skovronsky believes that pills could ultimately become the primary way of how obesity is treated worldwide and that oral medication could have a larger market share than injectable. He said most patients were more concerned about other factors such as care and convenience than the weight they can lose, and he believes that Orofoferripron has the edge.
Treatment is a small molecule medication, like most pills that people know. It can be made easier than peptides, such as the recordings and the Novo pill. And it does not come with the food and water restrictions that go hand in hand with the oral option of Novo. People wait 30 minutes after taking the drug to eat and drink.
“When I look at the pills, Orforglipron has no food effect, it is a small molecule, so the production should be easier,” said Evan Seigerman, analyst of BMO Capital Markets. “But with new management at Novo Nordisk I think, I think [new Chief Executive Officer] Mike Doustdar will not just take this and be delightful. He will prevent and make sure that this start is successful. “
After Seogerman had seen the results from Lilly’s obesity -pill attempt, he relocated part of his market share of Orforlipron to oral Semaglutid. Analysts reduce their 2032 estimates for Oforglipron, according to the evaluse between May and September, by an average of 4.5 billion US dollars. This year you will now see a sales of 14.56 billion US dollars.
Skovronsky said it was more difficult to predict market dynamics than science.
“We did a good job to predict science,” he said. “We said we would do a mouth that had security, tolerance and effectiveness that was similar to the injectable GLP-1. We did it. The scientific parts played. Let’s see how the market affects.”
