Clinical Trials
Eli Lilly’s orforglipron outshines oral semaglutide in landmark diabetes trial
The results, published in The Lancet, showed orforglipron delivered significantly greater reductions in both A1C and body weight across primary and key secondary endpoints
- By IPP Bureau
| February 28, 2026
Global pharma powerhouse Eli Lilly has revealed that its experimental oral GLP-1 therapy, orforglipron, outperformed oral semaglutide in the first head-to-head Phase 3 trial for adults with type 2 diabetes.
The ACHIEVE-3 study, which enrolled 1,698 participants inadequately controlled with metformin, tested four treatment arms: orforglipron 12 mg and 36 mg, and oral semaglutide 7 mg and 14 mg, over 52 weeks.
The results, published in The Lancet, showed orforglipron delivered significantly greater reductions in both A1C and body weight across primary and key secondary endpoints.
"ACHIEVE-3 gives us the first head-to-head comparison between two oral GLP-1 receptor agonist therapies in adults with type 2 diabetes, and the differences were clinically meaningful," said Julio Rosenstock, clinical professor of medicine at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center and lead investigator.
"Orforglipron 12 mg and 36 mg doses outperformed oral semaglutide 7 mg and 14 mg diabetes-related doses on every key endpoint we measured, including A1C and weight loss, with improvements appearing as early as four weeks and sustained throughout the study."
The trial marks a pivotal step in oral diabetes therapy, demonstrating that orforglipron can deliver faster and more substantial improvements without the food or water restrictions required by other oral GLP-1 treatments.
