Not only that, but 33.7 per cent of those reported feeling nauseous, with 10.3 per cent quitting the trial altogether because of\u00a0adverse events.<\/p>\n
So much for a hassle-free solution to sugar cravings. As the news dropped, Lilly\u2019s shares promptly plummeted by 14 per cent, knocking around \u00a375 billion off its market value.<\/p>\n
Such is the cut-throat nature of the GLP-1 market that Novo Nordisk, pioneer of the weight-loss movement with injectable Ozempic, watched its shares soar six per cent as a result of its rival\u2019s misfortune.<\/p>\n
Not that Novo has escaped the warfare unscathed either. When it was considered to be lagging behind Lilly earlier this year, its CEO was sacked, and despite submitting its own weight-loss pill for approval in April, it recently announced 11 per cent of its workforce were losing their jobs.<\/p>\n
So what exactly is going on in the world of weight-loss tablets? Are they still worthy of our attention? Or is the truth a bitter pill to swallow?<\/p>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103391407-15236171-The_new_breed_of_GLP_1_oral_medications_would_be_as_effective_as-a-1_176168611941.jpeg\")
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The new breed of GLP-1 oral medications would be as effective as Mounjaro, it was hoped, but without the need for ‘scary’ injections\u00a0<\/p>\n
![\"When](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103391405-15236171-When_pharmaceutical_giant_Eli_Lilly_released_the_clinical_trial_-a-3_176168611941.jpeg\")
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When pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly released the clinical trial results for its supposedly revolutionary new pill orforglipron in August, the results weren\u2019t as impressive as expected<\/p>\n
The pharmaceutical companies behind the medicines appear to be holding their cards very close to their chests, citing red tape and redundancies when I press to find out more.<\/p>\n
A spokesman for Lilly tells me they aren\u2019t \u2018doing interviews on orforglipron right now\u2019 and when I ask Novo if I might visit its Danish HQ to see its small molecule drugs \u2013 in other words, the pills \u2013 a spokesperson implied a visit was not possible because the job losses mean \u2018many roles are now uncertain\u2019.<\/p>\n
\u2018I think a lot of people got used to the whole obesity market delivering on expectations,\u2019 says Sheena Berry, healthcare analyst at investment firm Quilter Cheviot. Orforglipron\u2019s \u2018disappointing\u2019 results, she says, are partly why \u2018the obesity story seems to have lost a bit of its shine this year\u2019. \u2018We might find the orals will take a smaller share of the US market than was initially thought. The injectables are likely to still dominate.\u2019<\/p>\n
Some health professionals fear the roll-out of these pills could be a disaster waiting to happen.<\/p>\n
Dr Clare Thompson, leading the General Practice Weight Management Service at London\u2019s Cadogan Clinic, is alarmed at the prospect of millions of people on an oral medication outside the strictly regimented confines of a clinical trial \u2013 which, if Lilly gets regulatory approval for orforglipron, could happen as soon as next year.<\/p>\n
No study can \u2018possibly\u2019 reveal all the ways a GLP-1 pill will interact with medications the legions likely to take them could already be on, she explains.<\/p>\n
\u2018Clinical trials are very much controlled,\u2019 she adds. \u2018They choose the patients. With an injectable you\u2019ve got a much cleaner delivery into the bloodstream, whereas whenever you take oral tablets together, there are lots of times when it\u2019s contraindicated [potentially harmful]. You\u2019re going to have people taking lots of other things \u2013 HRT, antidepressants . . . That\u2019s the bit that stresses me out. People will have to report side-effects as they go along.\u2019<\/p>\n
Then there\u2019s the ease with which these pills are expected to be available. With no cold storage necessary or needle phobias to contend with, experts predict they are more likely to be sold directly to consumers than prescribed in medical settings.<\/p>\n
![\"Dr](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103391389-15236171-Dr_Clare_Thompson_GP_at_the_Cadogan_Clinic_is_alarmed_at_the_pro-a-5_176168620118.jpeg\")
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Dr Clare Thompson, GP at the Cadogan Clinic, is alarmed at the prospect of millions of people on an oral medication outside the confines of a clinical trial<\/p>\n
It\u2019s already easy enough to get hold of Mounjaro and the like without meeting the minimum body mass index threshold. \u2018It will be even easier to get hold of these pills,\u2019 predicts Dr Thompson. \u2018That\u2019s my concern. It\u2019s going to be open to abuse, isn\u2019t it?\u2019<\/p>\n
Earlier this month the Daily Mail revealed a booming black market for fake jabs, while GP surgeries are reporting record waiting lists thanks to a surge in people wanting weight-loss medication.<\/p>\n
A new report showed an astonishing 2.5 million people (one in 20) in the UK are using the jabs. Given their popularity, the prospect of a readily available pill, presented as a quick fix yet whose long-term effects we know next to nothing about, feels particularly concerning.<\/p>\n
When Attain-1, as orforglipron\u2019s recent phase 3 trial is called, got under way in 2023, hopes were high. Unlike Novo\u2019s pill offering \u2013 oral semaglutide, the pill form of Ozempic, which Novo submitted to America\u2019s FDA for approval in April \u2013 orforglipron doesn\u2019t need to be taken on an empty stomach. That\u2019s because it\u2019s the first \u2018small molecule\u2019 pill that can be absorbed through the gut effectively without extra ingredients.<\/p>\n
Some 3,120 overweight participants were enrolled in the trial and changes in body weight monitored over 72 weeks.<\/p>\n
That nausea was reported wasn\u2019t a surprise \u2013 it is a known side-effect of injectable weight-loss drugs, which mimic the naturally-occurring hormone glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) to slow the rate food leaves the stomach and reduce appetite. Indeed, in a Mounjaro trial, participants reported nausea levels almost as high as Attain-1, at 33.3 per cent.<\/p>\n
However, \u2018by delivering the medication directly into the bloodstream, injectables bypass the gut,\u2019 says Dr Naveed Asif, GP at The London General Practice, which reduces the likelihood of digestive side-effects.<\/p>\n
\u2018Oral weight-loss tablets must navigate through the digestive system, which often leads to more pronounced and direct gastrointestinal [and] digestive issues.\u2019 By offering \u2018a more consistent drug delivery\u2019 he says, an injection \u2018results in fewer waves of side-effects, such as nausea, which is the most common complaint\u2019.<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103392029-15236171-image-a-7_1761686295624.jpg\")
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A new report showed an astonishing 2.5 million people (one in 20) in the UK are using weight-loss jabs<\/p>\n
\u00a0And while a trial for oral semaglutide found 6.9 per cent of participants stopped taking the drug because of \u2018adverse events\u2019 \u2013 namely unpleasant side-effects \u2013 that figure was significantly higher for those on the high dose of orforglipron at 10.3 per cent.<\/p>\n
![\"\u2018I](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/103391403-15236171-_I_think_a_lot_of_people_got_used_to_the_whole_obesity_market_de-a-6_176168621291.jpeg\")
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\u2018I think a lot of people got used to the whole obesity market delivering on expectations,\u2019 says Sheena Berry, of investment firm Quilter Cheviot. ‘Injectables are likely to still dominate,’ she adds<\/p>\n
Certainly, some on orforglipron trials who have discussed their journey anonymously on social media site Reddit seem to have been dragged through the mill. One said the drug achieved \u2018slow and steady weight loss\u2019 for six months, but after that they no longer felt the same \u2018fullness\u2019 GLP-1 agonists are known to create by mimicking satiety hormones. Another said that after five months on a \u2018maintenance\u2019 dose, they had \u2018started having a lot of nausea again\u2019.<\/p>\n
A third said it was \u2018almost like the medication stopped working\u2019 \u2013 they didn\u2019t say how long that took to happen \u2013 and it was constipation that had caused \u2018the most pain\u2019. Most concerningly, one says they had \u2018passed out twice\u2019 since increasing their dosage to 24mg. \u2018I feel super tired, like I could just sleep all the time.\u2019<\/p>\n
Lilly\u2019s chief scientific officer Daniel Skovronsky remained bullish after the trial data was released, maintaining that the drug \u2018has the potential to be a more convenient alternative to injectable treatments\u2019. He added in an interview with analysts that \u2018orforglipron will bring an option that will serve the masses, will be easy to use, we can produce at scale\u2019.<\/p>\n
Yet orforglipron didn\u2019t perform significantly better than Novo\u2019s oral semaglutide, which is not a small-molecule drug but a peptide (a short chain of amino acids) too big to be efficiently absorbed from the gut into the bloodstream. It needs to be taken in a larger dose than its injectable version.<\/p>\n
In fact, by some markers, orforglipron performed worse \u2013 39.6 per cent of participants lost equal to or greater than 15 per cent of their body weight, with Novo\u2019s oral semaglutide that figure was 50 per cent. \u2018I do think people were hoping for better,\u2019 says healthcare analyst Lee Brown at investor research firm Third Bridge.<\/p>\n
Of course, not everyone needs to lose such a large proportion of their body weight. A 5 ft 6 in woman weighing 11 st, for example, need shed only around 13 per cent to reach the middle of a healthy BMI range. In this scenario, the convenience of a pill could certainly hold sway \u2013 and is perhaps the reason why pharmaceutical firms are still pursuing oral GLP-1s so aggressively.<\/p>\n
Despite the anticlimactic results, Mr Brown doesn\u2019t think weight-loss pills are overhyped \u2018at all,\u2019 pointing out that Lilly\u2019s stock has recovered from its recent knock. He argues that \u2018the penetration is phenomenal\u2019 \u2013 which means, in layman\u2019s terms, the number of untapped customers the companies stand to profit from is still vast.<\/p>\n
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But Lilly\u2019s chief scientific officer Daniel Skovronsky maintains that the drug \u2018has the potential to be a more convenient alternative to injectable treatments\u2019<\/p>\n
People don\u2019t want the faff of queuing in a doctor\u2019s surgery to get their hands on the drug, he adds. \u2018They want to get online, quickly get a prescription and have the drug shipped to their home or local pharmacy.\u2019 Whichever company can best facilitate this scenario, he believes, \u2018is going to win\u2019.<\/p>\n
Which is precisely Dr Thompson\u2019s concern. \u2018If it\u2019s over the counter, it could lay the path for lots of complications [and] unregulated consumption by people that should not be on it \u2013 young people that have eating disorders, body dysmorphia, those sort of issues.\u2019<\/p>\n
Mr Brown adds that while weight-loss pills aren\u2019t going to be as effective as injectables, they will be \u2018a lot cheaper\u2019.<\/p>\n