UK first in Europe to approve Eli Lilly oral weight loss drug

London: Britain has become the first country in Europe to approve orforglipron, the oral weight loss and diabetes treatment developed by US company Eli Lilly, the UK government has revealed.

The decision comes after "rigorous assessment of orforglipron's safety, quality, and effectiveness," Julian Beach, executive director for access at the country's medicines regulator, said in a statement Monday.

The medicine -- an oral GLP-1 drug for obesity and type 2 diabetes -- will not however be immediately available via the state-run National Health Service, which caps the cost patients pay for prescribed medicines.


Also read: Eli Lilly’s Foundayo becomes first oral weight-loss drug approved in UK for diabetes

The tablet drug, to be taken once per day, was approved in the United States in April, where it is marketed as Foundayo.

Pharmaceutical companies are competing to develop obesity treatments that don't require injections.

A tablet form of Wegovy, developed by Danish pharmaceutical Novo Nordisk, has been authorised in the UK, US and the European Union.

British company AstraZeneca, which is testing its own tablet drug, said trials have so far delivered results comparable to those already on the market.

Eli Lilly's Mounjaro weight loss drug, like Wegovy, is injected.