This update continues our ongoing GLP-1 intelligence series, helping you navigate the evolving pharmacy landscape. Following our recent updates on the oral GLP-1 pipeline and evolving market pressures, we now have concrete data from Eli Lilly’s orforglipron Phase 3 trial.
The Results: Promising But Nuanced
Eli Lilly announced last week that its oral GLP-1 drug, orforglipron, achieved 11.9% average weight loss in their 72-week study with the convenience of daily oral dosing and no dietary restrictions. However, tolerability challenges emerged with 10.3% of patients discontinuing due to side effects (vs. ~7% with current injections) and notable GI effects including nausea (34%) and vomiting (24%)1. With regulatory submission planned by end of 2025, we’re looking at a potential 2026 market launch.
What This Means for Patient Care & Plan Management
The data reinforces that oral GLP-1s represent genuine clinical progress but also confirms that thoughtful benefit design remains essential. While there are approximately 8 million patients on injectable obesity and diabetes drugs, around 170 million could benefit from the oral form1. Plan sponsors should adopt proactive management strategies to handle utilization growth of this magnitude.
Benecard’s Balanced Approach Rather than blanket exclusions, we help clients implement clinically informed strategies that balance patient access with cost sustainability. Our comprehensive approach includes an array of benefit modeling scenarios such as including coverage of non-oral GLP-1’s for weight loss for those with clinically severe obesity, defined treatment parameters, proactive positioning for emerging oral formulations, and centralized management through Benecard Central Fill for enhanced oversight and manufacturer copay access.
Sources: 1cnbc.com/2025/08/07/eli-lilly-obesity-pill-weight-los-trial.html
