Ozempic, potentially the most talked-about drug of 2025, is planning to have a new version launch in 2026.
While Ozempic remains a GLP-1 medicine for adults with type-2 diabetes, Mounjaro, the brand name for tirzepatide, can be prescribed for weight loss via the NHS.
These drugs typically come in jab form, but it has been reported that a new era of medicine could be coming soon.
Mounjaro's manufacturer, Eli Lilly, announced in September that it was hoping to "offer a convenient, once-daily pill that can be scaled globally".
Named "Orforglipron", the medicine can be taken once per day "without food and water restrictions".
While it remains in development, initial tests showed that it "lowered weight by an average of 10.5 per cent (22.9 lbs) compared to 2.2 per cent (5.1 lbs) with a placebo," the statement revealed.
Kenneth Custer, executive vice president at Eli Lilly, added, "With these positive data in hand, we are moving with urgency toward global regulatory submissions to potentially meet the needs of patients who are waiting."
The exciting update comes after Eli Lilly said that its experimental pill, orforglipron, outperformed Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide in a year-long trial.
At the highest dose, orforglipron delivered greater weight loss, an average 9.2 per cent (about 19.7 lbs) compared with Ozempic's 5.3 per cent (about 11 lbs).
Drugmakers had hoped the oral version of the drug may have had a new use in the form of slowing down the progression of Alzheimer's; however, it was reported that an oral version failed to do so in two major trials.
The Danish drugmaker said patients taking the pill saw no meaningful reduction in disease advancement, which put a hold on expectations that the bestselling diabetes medication might have a new use.
