They've created a pill with a Catalan imprint that could be an alternative to Ozempic.

BarcelonaAn increasing number of alternatives to obesity drugs such as Ozempic and Wegovy are emerging, and one of those that could soon reach the market has a Catalan imprint. An international phase 3 clinical trial, in which the Vall d'Hebron University participated, has demonstrated the efficacy of a new drug for the treatment of people with obesity. Orforgliprone is a drug that, like other obesity drugs, acts on the GLP-1 receptor, which is found in various cells involved in regulating appetite and metabolism in the brain and digestive tract. However, the difference between this drug and the already well-known Ozempic is that orforgliprone can be taken orally, in capsule or pill form, thus avoiding the complications or limitations of injectable treatment.

The research has been published in the journal The New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) and was presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) congress in Vienna. The authors anticipate that the drug approval process will begin in the coming months, which would expand the therapeutic options for these patients.

To test the drug's efficacy, researchers monitored the progress of 3,100 obese people without diabetes from nine different countries for a year and a half. All were adults with a body mass index greater than 30 kg/m2 or between 27 and 30 kg/m2 with some obesity-related complication, such as hypertension, cardiovascular disease, or sleep apnea.

Participants were randomly assigned to receive different doses of the drug or placebo, each in the form of one capsule daily. This regimen was combined with advice on a healthy diet and physical activity. Results showed that treatment with the highest dose of orforgliprone resulted in an average 11.2% reduction in body weight. More than half lost at least 10% of their weight, and approximately one in five lost more than 20%.

The research also recorded significant improvements in other aspects of patients' health, such as blood pressure, waist circumference, and triglyceride and cholesterol levels—all risk factors for cardiovascular disease. The most common adverse effects were digestive, generally mild or moderate and self-limiting, similar to those seen with other obesity drugs.

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