Jan 12 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly said on Monday it was confident about the supplies of its weight-loss pill ahead of its anticipated U.S. approval in the coming months.
The drug, orforglipron, has won a fast-track review voucher from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration that could cut review times to as little as one to two months, compared with the typical timeline of 10-12 months.
“We intend to launch in many, many countries around the world, as quickly as possible,” Daniel Skovronsky, head of research and development at Eli Lilly, told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a major industry conference that kicked off Monday in San Francisco.
Danish rival Novo Nordisk launched its once-daily weight-loss pill in the U.S. earlier this month, and Lilly expects to counter the first-to-market advantage by emphasizing the convenience of orforglipron.
While Novo’s oral semaglutide needs to be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before eating, drinking or using any other oral medication, Lilly’s pill does not have those restrictions.
“Ours is a small molecule — it’s just like any other pill. It’s not affected by food or water, what time of day you take it, or whether you fast. So I think that’s an advantage for patients who want that kind of convenience,” Skovronsky said.
(Reporting by Maggie Fick and Michael Erman in San Fransisco; Writing by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Maju Samuel and Shilpi Majumdar)
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