But it won\u2019t be the only option for long. Eli Lilly\u2019s competitor pill, Orforglipron, is expected to be approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in Spring, and a slew of alternative pills is also in production.<\/p>\n
(These pills aren\u2019t available in the UK yet, but British regulation is expected to follow in the footsteps of the FDA.)<\/p>\n
The pills work in much the same way as the injectables. Known as \u2018incretins\u2019, their active ingredients (such as semaglutide in Wegovy or tirzepatide in Mounjaro) mimic naturally occurring satiety hormones<\/a> to trick your body into feeling full.<\/p>\n Your digestion slows, you eat less and so you lose weight, without a gnawing hunger to trip up your progress.<\/p>\n Now in pill form, the drugs promise the same life-changing transformations \u2013 and the same protection from obesity-related diseases \u2013 but more cheaply and easily than ever before.<\/p>\n Is it too good to be true? Experts say the pills bring huge positives, as well as serious dangers.<\/p>\n Read more:<\/p>\n Could weight-loss pills change the world?<\/p>\n These pills could represent a new era in obesity treatments, where more people than ever before have access to life-changing healthcare.<\/p>\n \u201cNot everyone wants to take an injectable drug,\u201d Dr Simon Cork<\/a> \u2013 a senior lecturer at Anglia Ruskin University, UK, who specialises in the regulation of appetite and body weight \u2013 says. \u201cThat can be quite off-putting for patients. Taking them in an oral form is generally more acceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n But going sans-syringe doesn\u2019t just benefit the squeamish. At the moment, people taking weight-loss medication are likely to pay hundreds of dollars per month for their injections.<\/p>\n Without the need for needles to administer the drugs or fridges to store them, the pills can be manufactured and distributed more cheaply, enabling millions of people to access weight-loss medication who were previously priced out.<\/p>\n \u201cAll in all, the likelihood is these pills will be drastically cheaper than current forms,\u201d says Cork.<\/p>\n That\u2019s already true in the US, where Wegovy pills are being sold for $149 (about \u00a3110) per month, compared to $349 (around \u00a3250) for Wegovy pens.<\/p>\n In the UK around 95 per cent of incretin users are footing a steep private bill \u2013 according to Prof Giles Yeo<\/a>, a neuroendocrinologist and obesity expert at the University of Cambridge \u2013 in part because the drugs are too expensive for the NHS to prescribe to everyone who wants them.<\/p>\n \u201cThe likelihood is that these patients are going to have to be on these drugs for life, or certainly for a significant period,\u201d adds Cork. \u201cThat cost is a significant barrier \u2013 particularly for those who are most at risk of developing obesity, who are from more deprived backgrounds.<\/p>\n \u201cMy hope is that these oral medications will democratise access.\u201d<\/p>\n Solving a long-term problem<\/p>\n But, while more people may be able to access them, these drugs are unlikely to be in their most potent forms.<\/p>\n Incretins tend to pack less of a punch as pills. Injectable Wegovy can help patients lose 15 per cent of their body weight<\/a> after 68 weeks, compared to 13.6 per cent<\/a> in 64 weeks with Wegovy pills.<\/p>\n The pills really pale in comparison to the newest injectables. Retatrutide \u2013 still in production \u2013\u00a0has been shown to help patients lose a whopping 24 per cent of their body weight<\/a>, in just 48 weeks.<\/p>\n That disparity is understandable, says Yeo, because getting these drugs into the bloodstream \u201cis always going to be far more challenging in pill form.\u201d<\/p>\n Oral drugs have to pass through additional barriers \u2013 the stomach and liver \u2013 before they\u2019re absorbed into the blood, so manufacturers have to use more of the active ingredients to get results.<\/p>\n So, weight-loss pills may not rival injections when it comes to rapid results. But they could solve one of the biggest frustrations with these jabs: once people stop taking them, the weight tends to pile back on.<\/p>\n One 2022 study<\/a> found that, patients who came off their Wegovy injections regained up to two-thirds of the weight they had lost after just one year.<\/p>\n![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Weight-loss-pills-1.jpg\")
Weight-loss pills are made with small molecules, rather than proteins, so they can be stored at room temperature in standard tablet blister packs, rather than refrigerated – Credit: Getty images<\/p>\n
![\"Someone](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/Weight-loss-pills-2.jpg\")
Most incretins mimic the naturally occurring fullness hormone GLP-1, but some newer drugs target several hormones at once, with even more powerful results – Credit: Getty images