Weight lost (highest dose, 72 weeks)
12.4% of body weight (27.3 lbs average)
Participants losing 20%+ of body weight
nearly 1 in 5
A1C reduction vs oral semaglutide
significantly greater at 52 weeks
Dosing
once daily, no food or water restrictions
ACHIEVE-3 trial participants
1,698 adults across four treatment arms
Phase 3 trials completed
3 (ATTAIN-1, ATTAIN-2, ACHIEVE-3)
Orforglipron
Orforglipron (LY3502970) is a small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist taken once daily as a tablet. Un
subtitle: What the three Phase 3 trials showed
ATTAIN-1 (no diabetes): highest dose lost 12.4% body weight vs placebo at 72 weeks
ATTAIN-1: nearly 1 in 5 participants shed 20% or more of total body weight
ATTAIN-2 (with type 2 diabetes): 10.5% weight loss, A1C cut by 1.3 to 1.8 percentage points
ATTAIN-2: 75% on highest dose reached A1C at or below 6.5%, the ADA's diabetes threshold
ACHIEVE-3: orforglipron beat oral semaglutide (both 7 mg and 14 mg doses) on all key endpoints
ACHIEVE-3: greater A1C reduction AND greater weight loss than best available oral GLP-1
Safety profile consistent with injectable GLP-1 class (nausea, vomiting most common)
No food or fasting window required, unlike oral semaglutide which demands 30-minute fast
Why no fasting requirement matters. Oral semaglutide (Rybelsus, same active ingredient as Ozempic) requires patients to swallow it on an empty stomach and then wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking anything other than water. That window is a compliance barrier in real life. Orforglipron is a different molecular class altogether, a small molecule rather than a peptide, which is why it is absorbed without that restriction. A pill you can take with breakfast is meaningfully easier to sustain.
The existing injectable GLP-1 landscape for context. Semaglutide (Wegovy) injected weekly achieves roughly 15% body weight loss. Tirzepatide (Zepbound), the dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist, reaches about 21% in its highest-dose Phase 3 data. Orforglipron's 12.4% figure (without diabetes) is below tirzepatide but firmly in the clinically meaningful range, and critically, it is an oral tablet, not a weekly injection. Access, cost, and adherence could be transformed if it clears regulatory review.
Regulatory timeline. Eli Lilly expects to submit orforglipron for weight management to global regulators by end of 2025, with the type 2 diabetes submission following in 2026. Assuming a standard 12-month FDA review, a US approval for obesity could arrive in late 2026 or early 2027. The European Medicines Agency review would run roughly parallel. Lilly has not yet announced pricing.
