LLY.US CEO: Oral weight loss medication is expected to be approved as early as next year.

Eli Lilly (LLY.US) CEO David Ricks stated on Monday that the company expects its experimental oral weight-loss drug to receive approval as early as the beginning of next year. The company will release key late-stage trial data for the oral drug orforglipron in the middle of this year. Currently, Eli Lilly is working to bring this pill to market, competing for a significant share of the growing weight-loss drug market with Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B (NVO.US) and other smaller competitors. Eli Lilly's Zepbond and Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B's Wegovy dominate this field, but pharmaceutical companies and their competitors have been working on developing improved versions of these drugs. Compared to the current injection form, oral drugs are more convenient for patients to take. As Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk A/S Sponsored ADR Class B struggle to produce enough drugs to meet the surging demand, oral drugs are also easier to manufacture. Eli Lilly stated that in mid-term trials, orforglipron helped patients lose 14.7% of their body weight, while patients taking a placebo lost 2.3%.