Eli Lilly happy with weight loss pill performance as drugmaker races to be the first to market
In a clinical trial, the company's weight loss pill led to a nearly 12% weight loss at 72 weeks for participants who took the highest dose of the medicine.
The trial that included more than 3,000 people is one of two late-stage trials the drug must pass before Lilly can submit the pill for federal approval, which CEO David Ricks said Thursday he expects the company to do by the end of the year.
Lilly reported that participants lost an average of 27 pounds on the once-daily pill, named orforglipron, comparable to other GLP-1 injectable medicines like Zepbound and Mounjaro. The safety of the pill was also equivalent to other GLP-1s, Lilly said.
For Lilly, the clinical results are a positive sign for its oral weight loss pill that the company hopes will be as successful as the injectable drugs booming the weight loss industry. It would likely be the first GLP-1 oral drug for weight loss.
But in the eyes of some investors and doctors, the clinical results fell short. Investors were hoping for results closer to 15% weight loss and expressed concern about the number of people who dropped out of the trial. Around 12% of people left the trial due to side effects or personal reasons.
Ricks cautioned that people can quit a trial for a number of reasons and said the results of the pill matched Lilly's expectations for the medicine. Other medicines in the same drug class are shown to result in as much as 20% in weight loss.
"We're not disappointed with these results, it's right on thesis for us," Ricks said on CNBC in an interview before the earnings call. "The goal was to create an oral pill that was convenient and can be made at huge scale for the mass market and had weight loss that was competitive... and that's what we've achieved."
Shares of Lilly fell around 14% on Aug. 7.
Lilly's obesity pill works similarly to Zepbound, an injectable offered by Lilly, by targeting gut hormones to promote weight loss. The Indianapolis drugmaker is hoping to expand access to weight loss drugs by offering an oral medication.
European rival Novo Nordisk, the company behind the injectable drug Wegovy, is also developing an obesity pill, but Lilly is considered to be in the lead to bring an oral medication to market. By this time next year, Lilly could be producing the drug, Ricks said.
Lilly reported 38% year-over-year revenue growth on Aug. 7, raising the company's outlook for 2025 amid what has been a rollercoaster year so far.
Earlier in the week, President Donald Trump threatened to levy tariffs of up to 250% on drugs imported into the United States. The president told CNBC on Aug. 5 that he plans to announce new tariffs "within the next week or so" on pharmaceuticals.
A few months ago, Ricks strongly cautioned President Trump about the adverse effects that the administration's retaliatory tariffs could have on U.S. drug manufacturers who export popular medicines and the rest of the industry. Lilly operates large manufacturing hubs overseas in Europe and could face higher prices to bring their own drugs back to the United States.
To increase domestic production, Lilly is building four new manufacturing facilities in the U.S. through a $27 billion investment. Lilly hopes the facilities will make medicine for patients within the next five years.
Investors did not ask about tariffs on the Aug. 7 earnings call, rather focusing on how Lilly plans to approach drug reform pricing. Trump has instructed 17 drug companies, including Lilly, to take steps to address what he calls "abusive drug pricing practices" by Sept. 29.
Ricks told investors Lilly is in talks with the administration to bring down drug prices for the average American.
As of now, Lilly has not reported a huge disruption in revenue caused by tariff policies. In Q2, Lilly reported:
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