Lilly touts results for once-daily weight-loss pill

The race to develop small-molecule alternatives to peptide-based weight-loss and antidiabetes drugs isn’t over, but a leader and a laggard have emerged. Eli Lilly and Company, which already markets weight-loss and diabetes drugs that must be injected, is a step closer to introducing a once-daily pill for the same conditions. On April 17, the company announced the results of a Phase 3 clinical trial of orforglipron, a small molecule that it licensed from the Japanese firm Chugai Pharmaceutical in 2018. The molecule functions as a glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist—using the same mode of action as the peptide-based injectables marketed by both Lilly and Novo Nordisk. In Lilly’s study, called Achieve-1, the company compared the safety and efficacy of orforglipron to those of a placebo in adults with type 2 diabetes and inadequate glycemic control who were on a diet and exercise regimen. According to Lilly’s press release, the