A daily pill called orforglipron may help people keep weight off after stopping GLP-1 injections, according to a new study published in Nature Medicine. In a trial of 376 adults in the US, those who took the tablet every day for a year after coming off weight-loss jabs kept more than 70% of their earlier weight loss off.

The participants had already lost weight on tirzepatide, sold as Mounjaro, or semaglutide, sold as Wegovy, before stopping the injections and switching to either orforglipron or a placebo. They were not told which tablet they were taking. By the end of the year, the placebo group had kept around 38-50% of their earlier weight loss off, a gap that suggests the pill may help blunt the rebound many people experience after stopping treatment.

Orforglipron is already available in the US and works in a similar way to obesity jabs by mimicking a natural hormone that reduces appetite and helps people feel fuller for longer. Eli Lilly funded the study, and the same company also makes Mounjaro. In the US, the lowest dose of orforglipron costs around $149 per month, far below some GLP-1 injections that can cost more than $1,000 a month.

The findings land at a time when weight regain after stopping GLP-1 treatment is a known concern. The study’s lead expert, Dr Marie Spreckley, said: “We still do not know how durable these effects will be over longer periods of time.” She added that the research reinforces “the growing recognition that obesity is a chronic, relapsing disease that often requires ongoing treatment and support.”

Side effects on orforglipron were common but mostly mild, including nausea, constipation and diarrhoea. That makes the tablet easier to imagine as a longer-term option for some patients, but it does not settle the bigger question of how long treatment should continue once weight has been lost.

That question now matters because the market for oral GLP-1 drugs is moving fast. Novo Nordisk already has an oral version of its injectable GLP-1 drug Wegovy approved in the US, while a UK decision is still pending. Orforglipron has not yet been released to the UK market, and it is not known how much it would cost there.

For patients, the message from this study is clear: stopping treatment can mean giving weight back, but a daily pill may help hold the line. What remains unanswered is how long that protection lasts, and whether the lower-cost oral option can match the staying power people need.