A once-daily pill for obesity produced weight loss approaching that of popular injectable drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound in a mid-stage trial, according to results highlighted this month by the researchers running the study.
The drug, aleniglipron, developed by Structure Therapeutics, was tested in a Phase 2b trial of 230 adults with obesity or who were overweight across 38 U.S. medical centers. After 36 weeks, patients on the highest of three doses lost an average of 12.1 percent of their body weight, compared with 9.0 percent and 10.7 percent on lower doses and just 0.5 percent among those on placebo, according to a summary reported by ScienceDaily.
Unlike semaglutide and tirzepatide, which require weekly injections, aleniglipron is a small-molecule tablet that can be swallowed with or without food — a formulation advantage that could simplify manufacturing and distribution at scale. Dr. Robert Kushner, an obesity medicine specialist involved in evaluating the results, noted the trial turned up no new red flags.
"We didn't find any concerns; no new safety signals," Kushner said of the trial's safety data.
Side effects were mostly mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal issues — nausea and similar complaints common to the GLP-1 drug class — that tended to ease over time; about one in ten participants discontinued treatment. No cases of drug-induced liver injury were reported.
The results are still early: Phase 2b trials are designed to test dosing and gather safety signals, not to prove a drug works at the scale regulators require. Structure Therapeutics has said it plans to move to Phase 3 testing with a slower dose-escalation schedule aimed at improving tolerability, a step that — if successful — would still likely be a year or more from any approval decision. The trial adds to a crowded field of oral obesity-drug candidates from rivals racing to bring a pill-based alternative to market as demand for injectable GLP-1 drugs continues to outstrip supply.