New diabetes pill orforglipron achieves uniform weight loss for women of all ages

New analyses to be presented at the Annual Meeting of The European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) in Milan, Italy (Sept 28 – Oct 2) show that the new daily oral weight loss / type 2 diabetes medication orforglipron was associated with similar weight loss for women of different ages and at different life stages – premenopausal, experiencing menopause, or post-menopausal. The study is by Dr Hunter Thomas Hoffman, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis, IN, USA – the sponsor of the study and manufacturer of orforglipron – and colleagues.

Obesity, a chronic progressive disease, is exacerbated by oestrogen deficiency during menopause. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule, non-peptide GLP-1 receptor agonist, was associated with significant body weight (BW) reductions in ATTAIN-1 and -2 studies, one of which looked at people living with overweight or obesity but not diabetes (ATTAIN-1) and the other with both conditions (ATTAIN-2). This additional analysis evaluates orforglipron's effect on BW in women by menopausal stage.

Female participants with obesity (BMI ≥30 kg/m²) or overweight (BMI ≥27 kg/m²) with at least one weight-related medical condition in ATTAIN-1 and -2 were analysed by menopausal status: pre-, peri-, or post-menopause, with the number of women in each category receiving orforglipron or placebo ranging from 142 to 225. BW, waist circumference (WC), waist-to-height ratio changes and the proportion achieving BW reduction thresholds (≥5%, ≥10%, ≥15%, ≥20%) vs placebo (PBO) were assessed at 72 weeks.

For women given orforglipron, significant and similar reductions in body weight up to 14% were experienced for pre-menopausal, peri-menopausal and post-menopausal women in ATTAIN-1, and in ATTAIN-2. (see results table full abstract)

Significant reductions in waist circumference of up to 12.5 cm were observed across subgroups with orforglipron for both studies. With orforglipron, up to 83% experienced at least 5% body weight reduction vs 30% with placebo. More orforglipron-treated participants experienced a shift to lower waist-to-height ratio categories than placebo.