Daily weight loss pill Orforglipron looks closer than ever

Robert Price | Last update: 17th September 2025

Why a pill could be a game changer

We all know GLP-1 based drugs like Mounjaro and Wegovy have only been available as weekly injections. And we know what the downsides of using them are!

Pills would offer:

• Convenience: no injections and no storage issues (goodbye cold storage and jab ‘fear’).
• Access: easier to prescribe in primary care and much easier to distribute to users.
• Affordability: experts think pills will move weight loss treatments away from “specialist drug” pricing. Hopefully.

An effective pill could dramatically expand access and uptake for people who haven’t had a chance to use Mounjaro or Wegovy.

The user testing looks positive

At a diabetes conference in Vienna this week the latest user testing results were released, and they’re looking very encouraging. 

The results are from a study of over 3,000 people. This is the final stage of the testing before Eli Lilly ask the US regulator to approve the drug to be prescribe to people who meet the criteria.

There were some really exciting weight loss outcomes of the study:

• More than half of people lost at least 10% of their body weight over 72 weeks.
• People on the highest dose lost over 12%.
• Nearly 1 in 5 people lost 20% or more.

The overall health benefits for users, similar to Mounjaro and Wegovy, included lower blood pressure, smaller waists and lower bad cholesterol. For people who were pre-diabetes 91% of them reached near-normal blood sugar levels.

If you fancy reading more (lots more) detail have a look at the Eli Lilly press release or in the The New England Journal of Medicine.

Side effects

We know that Mounjaro and Wegovy have side effects and Orforglipron isn’t going to side-effect free:

• Most common issues in the test were nausea, constipation, diarrhoea and vomiting.
  
• 1 in 10 stopped treatment on the highest dose because of these.

Of course, using any weight loss drug alone isn’t enough. Diet and nutrition, physical activity, sleep and mental health all remain crucial for long-term success and maintenance.

Why could it be available sooner?

There’s a push in the USA to get drugs that meet urgent public health needs out and available much quicker. This will reduce the time to market after testing to 2 months, rather than 10 months. This scheme is called the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher.

Orforglipron is seen as a strong candidate because:

• Obesity is a high-burden chronic condition for a lot of people.
• An oral treatment could be cheaper and easier to access than injections.
• Lilly is investing in US-based manufacturing which is a government priority.

As Jayne, a SlimrChat contributor, says:

“I hate injecting so much. It took me an hour the first time I did it. A pill would be amazing.

This could mean Orforglipron could be available at the start of next year (some are saying even late this year in the USA)…maybe.

Money, money, money

Of course we shouldn’t forget that a pill based GLP-1 drug would earn a huge amount of revenue for Eli Lilly. 

Bankers at Goldman Sachs have said that even a three-month earlier launch could generate an extra $1 billion in revenue!! And that’s on top of the booming MJ revenue.

What do we think?

There’s no doubt Orforglipron is one to watch. The idea of a once-daily pill could be incredible. Especially for those who struggle with the cost of the current jabs or struggle to access the current treatments.

But for now, it’s not yet approved in the UK or elsewhere. The current wave of weight-loss success is still being driven by injectables like Mounjaro and Wegovy.

We’ll keep tracking every step so this page will always reflect the latest developments. Keep it bookmarked!