Recent polls show that about 12% of American adults are currently taking a glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) medication for weight loss or type 2 diabetes treatment.
Until recently, these medications like Ozempic and Zepbound, were administered only by self-injection.
However, for the about 30% of adults who have trypanophobia — or a fear of injections — the need to self-inject these medications may keep them from using them.
Researchers are now developing pill forms of GLP-1s to help reach those who have injection phobia. In December 2025, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved an oral pill form of Wegovy for weight loss, and in April 2026 approved the once-daily oral GLP-1 drug Foundayo (orforglipron) also for weight loss.
Now, a new study presented at the American Diabetes Association’s Scientific Session 2026 and published in the journal The Lancethas found the new oral pill GLP-1 medication elecoglipron may help to significantly reduce blood sugar levels and body weight in people with type 2 diabetes.
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This study presented findings from a phase 2b randomized clinical trial called SOLSTICE to test the new oral GLP-1 medication elecoglipron.
“Elecoglipron is an oral small molecule GLP-1 RA (receptor agonist),” Vanita Aroda, MD, director of Diabetes Clinical Research at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, associate professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, and lead author of this study, told Medical News Today.
“It works through its GLP-1 effects to decrease glucose. It is an oral GLP-1, which means it can be taken orally rather than as an injection,” Aroda explained.
At the study’s conclusion, researchers found that in all dosages, participants taking elecoglipron experienced a decrease in their glucose levels significantly more than those taking the placebo after 26 weeks. Additionally, these participants achieve an HbA1c level of 7%.
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“This is clinically meaningful as we know that we can reduce the risk of diabetes related completions through achievement and maintenance of glycemic targets, with the target of less than 7% as the generally accepted standard,” Aroda said.
Additionally, scientists discovered that up to 72.3% of participants in the treatment group lower their weight by at least 5%.
“GLP-1 RAs are known to help decrease body weight, in part due to decrease in appetite,” Aroda told us. “Persons with type 2 diabetes tend to also have some degree of increased body weight or obesity and we know that achieving at least 5% body weight helps to improve glucose and cardiometabolic risk factors.”
MNT spoke with Jennifer Cheng, DO, chief of endocrinology at Hackensack Meridian Jersey Shore University Medical Center in New Jersey — who was not involved in this study — who commented it is important to find new options for the treatment of type 2 diabetes and give patients the choice of administering either via subcutaneous injections or just a daily pill.
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“There are certain patients who are wary or afraid of injections, and this would be another way of getting the beneficial medication to patients,” Cheng explained. “More research should be done to monitor side effects and see if it also has the benefits of other GLP-1 medications, such as preventing cardiac events, protecting kidneys, and treating sleep apnea.”
Mir Ali, MD, bariatric surgeon and medical director of MemorialCare Surgical Weight Loss Center at Orange Coast Medical Center in Fountain Valley, CA, agreed.
“Having an oral version has some benefits in that it’s easier to transport for most people,” Ali, who was likewise not involved in this research, explained. “Especially if they don’t like taking injections, it’s easier to administer and take. And technically it should be cheaper to manufacture pills compared to injections.”
Finally, Amy Sheer, MD, MPH, DABOM, associate professor of medicine and program director of the Obesity Medicine Fellowship at the University of Florida — also not involved in this research — told MNTthat more competition is a good thing in the world of GLP-1s, hopefully driving down the cost and adding to the overall safety profile of GLP1 drugs.
“Expanding oral GLP-1 options could help many patients access effective treatment who might otherwise never start therapy because they don’t want injections. Ultimately, our goal is not to find one medication that works for everyone. Our goal is to give patients multiple evidence-based options so they can choose the treatment that best fits their lifestyle, preferences, health needs, and price point to make long-term use a viable option.”
– Amy Sheer, MD, MPH, DABOM
MNT also spoke with George W. Carroll, MD, co-founder and chief medical director of GLPrelief, and founder of BeSlimMD in Maitland, FL, who said that many times the what makes people stop taking GLP-1 drugs once they start is not the needle — it’s how the medication makes them feel, and what it costs.
“Those are the real drivers,” Carroll, also not involved in this study, explained. “So the case for oral options isn’t that injections are bad — its optionality. Every barrier you remove — the needle for one patient, the empty-stomach requirement for another — keeps one more person on a therapy that works. A medicine only helps if the patient actually takes it.”
When looking at the next research steps for elecoglipron, Carroll said he would like to see a phase 3 clinical trial involving thousands of patients over a year or more, to see where the blood-sugar and weight effects actually land and hold.
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“Second — and a 26-week phase 2 study isn’t built to answer this — cardiovascular and kidney outcomes,” he continued. “For type 2 diabetes, the modern bar isn’t just ‘does it lower the number,’ it’s ‘does it prevent heart attacks, strokes, and kidney decline.’ The injectable GLP-1s earned their place by proving that in dedicated outcomes trials, and this drug will have to as well.”
Further research, Carroll said, should also smartly test different starting doses and escalation speeds and how they impact potential side effects, and a rigorous head-to-head comparison against what oral GLP-1 options are already available.
“And then the unglamorous decider: What will it cost, and will insurers cover it?” he added. “None of that is a criticism of the study — it’s the homework that comes next.”
