In continuation of my update on orforglipron
A new analysis to be presented at this year's European Congress on Obesity (ECO 2026, Istanbul, Turkey, 12-15 May) examined daily oral orforglipron treatment for the treatment of obesity, with or without diabetes, in users aged 65 years and over, with results and a safety profile similar to that seen in the ATTAIN clinical trial programme population. Lead author for this post-hoc analysis is Dr Deborah Horn, Director of the Center for Obesity Medicine and Metabolic Performance at McGovern Medical School at UTHealth Houston, Houston, Texas, USA, and colleagues.
Limited clinical data exist on the use of incretin-based obesity management medications in older adults with or without type 2 diabetes (T2D), and a lack of specific analyses related to older users could be a factor that could make providers or patients in this age group hesitant when considering therapy choices.
Orforglipron is a novel small-molecule, non-peptide, oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1 RA) developed by Eli-Lilly and Company (Lilly), who sponsored these analyses. The drug was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for chronic weight management on April 1, 2026.
Orforglipron demonstrated significant weight reduction vs. placebo in the phase 3, randomised, double-blind, multinational ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 clinical trials in participants with obesity or obesity and T2D, respectively. In this new analysis of those trials, the authors evaluated efficacy and safety of orforglipron versus placebo in a sub-group of participants aged 65 years and older from ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2.
The ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 global clinical trials evaluated once-daily orforglipron 6 mg, 12 mg, or 36 mg vs. placebo as an adjunct to healthy diet and physical activity in participants from 9 and 10 countries, respectively. In this sub-group analysis, efficacy outcomes were analysed separately for each trial, and safety data were pooled. The primary endpoint was percent change in body weight from baseline to week 72.
In ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2, 616 randomised participants were ≥65 years of age (n=196 and 420, respectively). Of those, 613 received treatment (orforglipron 6 mg, n=118; 12 mg, n=135; 36 mg, n=146; placebo, n=214). And 79.1% of ATTAIN-1 and 86.2% of ATTAIN-2 participants had hypertension as a comorbidity.
At Week 72, the percent change in weight from baseline in users aged 65 and over in ATTAIN-1 (participants with obesity and without T2D) was –7.9%, –11.3%, and –13.0% with orforglipron 6 mg, 12 mg, and 36 mg, respectively, vs. –1.6% with placebo, all statistically significant findings. Similar results were found for those users aged 65 years and over with T2D and obesity in ATTAIN-2: orforglipron 6 mg: –7.5%; 12 mg: –8.3%; 36 mg: –12.2%; placebo: –2.3% again with all results statistically significant.
Participants with T2D experienced reductions from baseline in glycated haemoglobin (HbA1c – a measure of blood sugar control) of –1.5%, –1.6%, and –1.7% with 6 mg, 12 mg, and 36 mg orforglipron, respectively, vs. –0.1% with placebo. BMI, waist circumference, triglycerides, non-HDL cholesterol, and health-related quality of life also improved in orforglipron vs. placebo treatment groups in participants with or without T2D.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orforglipron
