(Reuters) -Eli Lilly said on Thursday its experimental pill, orforglipron, led to a weight loss of nearly 8% at the highest dose and lowered blood sugar for overweight patients with type 2 diabetes in a late-stage trial.
Shares of the company jumped nearly 13% in premarket trading.
Lilly, which has already begun stockpiling supplies of the pill, said it plans to file for approval to global regulators by the end of this year.
The company currently sells injectable tirzepatide — the active ingredient in diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity treatment Zepbound — which mimics natural peptide hormones GLP-1 and GIP.
Orforglipron also targets GLP-1, but unlike hormone-mimicking peptides, which also include Novo Nordisk’s injected Ozempic and Wegovy, it is a synthetic small molecule drug that can be taken orally.
(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru and Deena Beasley; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli and Sriraj Kalluvila)
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