Disposition and Absolute Bioavailability of Orally Administered Orforglipron in Healthy Participants.
Clin Pharmacol Drug Dev · 2026
Last updated 2026-05-28In two small studies with healthy adults, researchers tested how the body absorbs and processes orforglipron, an oral GLP-1 drug. About 79% of the drug taken by mouth was absorbed into the bloodstream, and most of it (87%) was later eliminated through feces, with only 0.2% removed in urine over 384 hours. The drug was mostly found unchanged in the blood, with small amounts of two minor breakdown products.
AI summary of the abstract below.
| Journal | Clin Pharmacol Drug Dev, 2026 |
|---|---|
| Citations | 2 |
| Molecules | orforglipron |
Abstract
Orforglipron is a non-peptide, oral glucagon-like peptide 1 receptor agonist under development for glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes and weight management in people with obesity. Two phase 1, open-label studies evaluated the disposition and absolute bioavailability of orforglipron in healthy adults. Study A participants (N = 10) received a 1-mg orforglipron oral capsule while fasting and an intravenous dose of ∼21 µg of [14C]-orforglipron. Study B participants (N = 6) received an oral solution of 3 mg of orforglipron with ∼200 µCi of [14C]-orforglipron while fasting. In study A, total plasma radioactivity and [14C]-orforglipron were measured by accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) and high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC)/AMS, while orforglipron was measured by HPLC/MS. The mean absolute oral bioavailability of orforglipron was 79.1% ± 16.8%. In study B, urine and feces were analyzed for total radioactivity. Metabolic radioprofiling was performed on selected plasma and fecal samples by HPLC/high-resolution MS. The primary route of elimination for [14C]-orforglipron-related radioactivity was via the feces (87% ± 2.8%) with minimal urinary excretion (0.2% ± 0.02%). Total recovery of administered radioactivity was 88% over 384 hours after the dose. Metabolite profiling from study B showed that orforglipron underwent extensive oxidative metabolism, followed by microbial metabolism of the oxadiazolone ring. Orforglipron was the most abundant plasma component (93.3%) with minor oxidative metabolites M7 (3.3%) and M23 (1.6%).
Verbatim abstract via PubMed 40888509 ↗
Related research
- Daily Oral GLP-1 Receptor Agonist Orforglipron for Adults with Obesity.
- Efficacy and safety of oral orforglipron in patients with type 2 diabetes: a multicentre, randomised, dose-response, phase 2 study.
- Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist, in Early Type 2 Diabetes.
- Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment.
- Orforglipron (LY3502970), a novel, oral non-peptide glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist: A Phase 1b, multicentre, blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized, multiple-ascending-dose study in people with type 2 diabetes.
- Orforglipron (LY3502970), a novel, oral non-peptide glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist: A Phase 1a, blinded, placebo-controlled, randomized, single- and multiple-ascending-dose study in healthy participants.
- The pharmacological basis for nonpeptide agonism of the GLP-1 receptor by orforglipron.
- Orforglipron, a novel non-peptide oral daily glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist as an anti-obesity medicine: A systematic review and meta-analysis.