Orforglipron: Daily pill helps prevent dreaded weight regain after coming off weight loss jabs like Ozempic

A new daily pill could be the answer to fending off dreaded weight regain after people stop using weight loss jabs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro, landmark new research suggests.

While wildly popular GLP-1 injections have proven very effective at helping people lose weight, the downside has been that most people will pile many of those kilos back on within one to two years of stopping the weekly jabs.

Now a new product produced by Eli Lilly, the same pharmaceutical giant that manufactures Mounjaro, has been shown to help patients avoid the weight regain.

Easier to take, just as effective and far cheaper than fat jab rivals, Orforglipron has already been shown to reduce body weight by 12.4 per cent among adults who are obese or overweight without diabetes and an average 10.4 kg for those with obesity and Type 2 diabetes, plus significantly improved blood sugar control.

Results from a new double-blind, placebo-controlled trial published in Nature Medicine showed 70 per cent of patients who had come off weight loss jabs and transitioned to Orforglipron kept off their earlier weight loss compared to those given a placebo who kept between 38-50 per cent off.

The drug is already available in the US for around USD$149 per month for the lowest dose, compared with the over $1000 a month Americans are paying for some GLP-1 injections.

The Therapeutic Goods Administration is currently reviewing Eli Lilly’s application to have it approved for use in Australia.

Australian sales of weight loss medications have rocketed since 2020, increasing 10-fold, according to University of NSW research.

At least half a million Australians are believed to be taking weight loss drugs every month, with almost 50 per cent of them buying it privately for up to $600 a month.

But many of these people will have to stay on the jabs for life or risk what’s been dubbed as “Ozempic rebound”, and many of the associated health benefits.

The Orforglipron pill has shown clinically significant and meaningful body weight reduction along with improvements in markers of cardiometabolic disease, such as waist circumference, blood pressure, lipids and high‑sensitivity C‑reactive protein, in people with obesity, with and without type 2 diabetes.

“A key finding of this trial is that participants were better able to maintain the majority of weight loss achieved with injectable therapy when switched to Orforglipron compared with placebo,“ the paper reads.

It continued, “So far, injectable OMMs (obesity management medications) have proven to be highly efficacious and safe for use, but persistence on therapy remains challenging.

“This trial provides evidence of how to switch to oral OMM therapy and its ability to improve weight loss maintenance and could serve as a potential solution for persistence on therapy for those who wish to stop injectable therapy owing to patient preference, convenience, cost or cold storage requirements.”

The Therapeutic Goods Administration has been approached for comment.