Key Takeaways
- Eli Lilly’s oral GLP-1 drug candidate, orforglipron, shows promising weight maintenance after patients switch from injectable treatments like Wegovy.
- The drugmaker is seeking FDA approval and aims to capture market share from Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy.
- Despite mild gastrointestinal side effects, Lilly’s orforglipron offers potential advantages over injectable options and could benefit from scalable production.
Weight Loss Maintenance Study
Eli Lilly reports that patients have largely maintained their weight loss after transitioning from injectable GLP-1 receptor agonists to its oral drug candidate, orforglipron. The drugmaker is pursuing FDA approval for orforglipron, highlighting results from a head-to-head trial comparing it against Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy and its own Zepbound.
In the study, participants who completed treatment with Wegovy regained an average of 0.9 kg after 52 weeks on orforglipron. Initially weighing 113.5 kg, their weight decreased to 95 kg during the Wegovy treatment, only to slightly increase to 95.9 kg with orforglipron. In contrast, patients treated with Zepbound regained 5 kg after switching, with their weights changing from 115.8 kg at the start to 90.9 kg by the end of the Zepbound regimen, and then rising to 95.9 kg on orforglipron.
Data from these findings focused on patients who adhered to their assigned treatment, leaving out those who discontinued treatment prematurely.
Adverse Events and Market Potential
Lilly reports that the most common side effects of orforglipron are gastrointestinal in nature, typically mild to moderate. Discontinuation rates due to side effects were recorded at 4.8% and 7.2% for patients moving to orforglipron from Wegovy and Zepbound, respectively. Comparatively, the placebo groups had higher discontinuation rates at 7.6% and 6.3%.
BMO Capital Markets analysts described orforglipron’s maintenance data as an underappreciated asset, noting its potential to increase market share against Novo Nordisk. Analysts believe that Lilly can drive shifts from Wegovy to orforglipron, directly impacting Novo’s sales.
During a recent earnings call, Ken Custer, Ph.D., Lilly’s president of cardiometabolic health, expressed strong optimism about orforglipron’s role as a primary incretin. He emphasized the significance of its application for maintenance treatment, seeing it as a substantial opportunity. Custer reassured stakeholders that the oral formulation should not detract from existing injectable sales.
Manufacturing Advantages
Lilly possesses a Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher that could expedite orforglipron’s FDA approval process. While Novo’s oral version of Wegovy is set to enter the market before orforglipron, Lilly might benefit from a manufacturing advantage. The scalability of producing orforglipron, which is a small molecule, may surpass that of Novo’s higher-dose peptide medications. As this competition in weight management continues to evolve, orforglipron stands as a promising contender in addressing obesity.
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