Eli Lilly CEO expects new weight loss pill to be approved next year – DOC Finance – your daily dose of finance.

Eli Lilly CEO expects new weight loss pill to be approved next year

In this article, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks informed Bloomberg TV on Monday that the company anticipates its experimental weight loss pill to receive approval as early as next year. The company is preparing to unveil crucial late-stage trial data on the drug, orforglipron, by the middle of this year.

Eli Lilly is striving to bring the pill to the market to compete with Novo Nordisk and other smaller competitors for a significant portion of the growing weight loss drug market. While Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy currently dominate the market, both companies and their rivals are working on enhancing the drugs.

The transition to pills would offer patients greater convenience compared to the current injectable forms and would be simpler to produce, addressing the challenges faced by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in meeting the escalating demand for drugs.

In a mid-stage trial, Eli Lilly reported that orforglipron helped patients achieve weight loss of up to 14.7%, in contrast to 2.3% among those who received a placebo. Eli Lilly’s shares experienced a slight decline on Monday.

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