British pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca has unveiled promising results for a new weight-loss pill, showing comparable efficacy to other GLP-1 oral medications. The findings were released on Monday.
The drug, named elecoglipron, was featured in the prestigious medical journal The Lancet, as reported by AFP.
During Phase 2 clinical trials, participants experienced an average weight loss of 10.5% at 26 weeks and 11.8% at 36 weeks. The study, involving 310 individuals, reported side effects similar to existing GLP-1 pills, with nausea being the most prevalent.
Professor Mari Speckley from the University of Cambridge, who wasn’t involved in the study, noted that this significant weight loss was observed in the highest dose group among overweight or obese adults without diabetes.
She cautioned, however, that larger Phase 3 trials are crucial to confirm the drug’s long-term effectiveness and safety profile.
AstraZeneca’s potential market entry sets the stage for intense competition with Denmark’s Novo Nordisk and U.S.-based Eli Lilly, both of which have already launched oral obesity treatments.
Eli Lilly’s popular drug Mounjaro, now marketed as Foundayo in the U.S., received U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval in May 2022. Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill is poised for approval in both the U.S. and European Union markets.