A daily glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) pill can help people keep weight off after stopping weight loss jabs, a new clinical trial has revealed.
Drugmaker Eli Lilly said on May 12 that the late-phase, randomised study found that “people with obesity maintained their weight loss long-term” after switching from GLP-1 jabs to Lilly’s orforglipron, sold as Foundayo.
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The research, funded by Lilly and published in Nature Medicine, found that in two different cohorts, the once-daily pill helped to maintain weight loss after the use of semaglutide, brand name Wegovy, and tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro in the UK.
In cohort one, patients taking orforglipron maintained 74.7% of their body weight reduction, compared to 49.2% of those taking the placebo.
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In the second cohort, participants using orforglipron maintained 79.3% of their body weight reduction, while the placebo group maintained just 37.6%.
Researchers found that “participants treated with orforglipron demonstrated significant and clinically meaningful maintenance” of the weight loss they had achieved with GLP-1 jabs.
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They also highlighted that there is a “common misconception” that weight management drugs “can be discontinued after achieving initial weight loss”.
Stopping these treatments after losing weight “can lead to weight cycling” and can cause cardiometabolic health issues such as “increased insulin resistance or blood pressure”, they said.
“Important evolution”
Lloyds Pharmacy Online Doctor chief medical officer Dr Kieran Seyan said the oral GLP-1 drugs “could represent an important evolution in weight management, especially for patients who have responded well to injections but are seeking a more acceptable long-term maintenance option”.
But he said the findings “should also be interpreted in context”, adding that they “come from a defined trial population rather than real-world UK practice” and “we still need to understand how this would translate into UK prescribing pathways and long-term patient support”.
“Convenience should not come at the expense of safety,” he said. “Patients need robust clinical checks, ongoing monitoring and clear information about side effects, as well as access to healthcare professionals throughout their treatment.”
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It comes after Foundayo was approved by the FDA last month, making it the second GLP-1 pill to hit the US market after Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill.
And it follows new research warning that drug companies’ “dependency” on GLP-1 weight loss medicines is creating a “bubble effect” in the industry.
