New York, February 26, 2026, 14:45 EST — Regular session
- Eli Lilly shares fell about 1% in afternoon trading after new data on its experimental daily weight-loss pill highlighted higher side effects than a Novo Nordisk rival.
- The head-to-head diabetes trial showed stronger blood sugar control and weight loss, but more dropouts tied to nausea and other stomach issues.
- Traders are watching the U.S. regulatory timeline for the pill’s obesity use as the next major catalyst.
Eli Lilly and Co shares were down about 1% at around $1,018 on Thursday, pulling back as investors weighed fresh clinical detail on the drugmaker’s experimental daily weight-loss pill, orforglipron. 1
The new data matters because orforglipron is Lilly’s lead shot at a pill form of the GLP-1 class — medicines that mimic a gut hormone to lower blood sugar and curb appetite. A pill could broaden the market beyond weekly injections, but only if patients can stay on it.
It also lands in the middle of a rough week for the obesity-drug race, after Novo Nordisk’s latest late-stage results for its next-generation candidate CagriSema rattled investors and sharpened the contrast with Lilly’s tirzepatide franchise. “They literally ran a trial that said that Lilly’s product is better,” BMO Capital analyst Evan Seigerman said at the time. 2
In the 52-week ACHIEVE-3 trial, orforglipron posted bigger reductions in A1C — a measure of average blood sugar over roughly three months — and greater weight loss than Novo’s oral semaglutide, Lilly said as it published full results in The Lancet. 3
But the fuller readout showed a tougher tolerability profile. About 58% of patients on a 36 mg dose of Lilly’s pill reported mild-to-moderate side effects such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting, versus 45% on Novo’s 14 mg oral semaglutide, and roughly 10% discontinued treatment due to side effects compared with 5% on Novo’s pill, Reuters reported. 4
Kenneth Custer, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, called it “a trade-off that patients will be very happy to make,” pointing to stronger glucose control and weight loss and dosing “with no restriction” around food and water.
Dr. Julio Rosenstock, the lead investigator, said the head-to-head differences were “clinically meaningful” and showed up early, Lilly’s release said.
Outside the company, clinicians flagged the dropouts. “Higher discontinuation due to adverse events… is a key consideration,” said Dr Marie Spreckley of the MRC epidemiology unit at the University of Cambridge, while University of Glasgow professor Naveed Sattar called the findings “important” for expanding oral options. 5
The move in Lilly’s stock came as U.S. equities softened more broadly, with investors jittery about stretched valuations in big tech after a strong run. 6
For Lilly, the near-term risk is that tolerability — including a reported rise in pulse rate in the trial — becomes a sticking point with doctors, payers or regulators even if the efficacy looks strong. Longer-term safety and cardiovascular outcomes beyond one year remain a live question for the whole class.
Next up, traders will focus on the U.S. approval path for orforglipron in obesity, which some reports peg to an April 10 target action date, and on how the company frames real-world tolerability as it pushes deeper into oral GLP-1s. 7
