What is Ozempic 2.0: Everything to know about next wave of weight loss drugs

The global weight-loss and diabetes treatment landscape is set for a major shift as pharmaceutical companies prepare to launch a new generation of Ozempic that are claimed to be more effective than Ozempic and Mounjaro.

Named as “Ozempic 2.0,” this new drug is led by experimental pills like Eli Lily’ orforglipron.

The major advantage is delivery. These treatments would replace weekly injections with once-daily oral doses.

According to Eli Lilly, the pill is made to be “taken once per day without food and water restrictions,” potentially focusing on improving accessibility and patient compliance.

During a year-long trial, Eli Lilly reported that its experimental pill, orforglipron, outperformed Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide which is a pill version of Ozempic.

At the highest dose, the orforglipron delivered an average weight loss of 9.2% in comparison to its rival which only delivered 5.3%.

Eli Lilly’s Chief Scientific Officer, Dan Skovronsky, stressed the potential of the drug stating “for the majority of patients, this could be the main medicine that they need to control their Type 2 diabetes as well as their obesity.”

Despite apparently promising, the drug is still subjected to rigorous FDA approval process. Furthermore, hopes for secondary benefit were recently dampened when Novo Nordisk revealed that an oral GLP-1 drug failed to slow Alzheimer’s progression in two major clinical trials.

Endocrinologist David Lau told The Washington Post, “With this newer generation of medications, we’re not just focusing on weightloss…we are talking about changes beyond what you see on scale.”

If approved by FDA, these pills can redefine metabolic disease treatment as early as 2026.