Patient Preference and Adherence

Orforglipron: Balancing Oral Convenience, Clinical Benefit, and Patient Experience

Orforglipron is a novel, once-daily, oral, non-peptide small-molecule glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist developed to address chronic weight management and type 2 diabetes. Unlike traditional injectable peptide therapies that require cold storage, subcutaneous administration, and strict timing around meals, orforglipron offers a convenient pill format that can be taken at any time of day with or without food. This pharmaceutical innovation bridges a significant gap in modern metabolic care by combining the pharmacological potency of established incretin-based treatments with the administrative ease of an oral medication. Extensive clinical trials have consistently shown that it delivers substantial body weight reductions and sustained glycaemic control, along with favourable cardiometabolic improvements. Navigating this emerging therapy's complex therapeutic landscape requires carefully evaluating how its pharmacological properties intersect with real-world administration, ensuring modern medical interventions meet vital physiological demands and individual lifestyle preferences seamlessly and effectively.

Balancing ease of daily administration, clinical efficacy, and patient experience is paramount to maximizing the real-world success of modern metabolic treatments. While potent therapeutic outcomes such as profound weight loss, stabilized blood sugar levels, and reduced cardiovascular risks are clinically essential, they remain unfulfilled if patients struggle to consistently maintain their daily regimens over the long term. Oral delivery systems effectively dismantle psychological barriers like needle anxiety and storage inconveniences, which drastically boost overall treatment persistence compared to traditional injectable alternatives available today. However, because dose-dependent gastrointestinal side effects often trigger medication discontinuation during critical initial titration phases, prioritizing patient tolerability and individual comfort is crucial to sustaining long-term engagement. Harmonising these three critical dimensions successfully closes the wide divide between controlled clinical trial environments and everyday clinical practice, ultimately translating pharmaceutical breakthroughs into enduring, life-changing health improvements for individuals actively managing complex chronic metabolic disorders.

Topics include but are not limited to:

• Patient satisfaction: Perceived convenience, freedom from injections and dosing restrictions, and satisfaction with outcomes relative to adverse effects.
• Treatment acceptability: Willingness to initiate and continue a once-daily oral GLP-1 therapy, especially among people hesitant to use injectable agents.
• Treatment compliance: The relationship between oral delivery, flexible administration, gradual titration, gastrointestinal tolerability, discontinuation, and long-term persistence.
• Quality of life: Potential effects of weight loss and improved glycaemic control on physical functioning, symptoms, self-management burden, and well-being; direct patient-reported evidence remains limited.
• Health management modelling: Models should compare oral orforglipron with injectable and other oral options using treatment persistence, discontinuation, cardiometabolic outcomes, healthcare utilization, and quality-adjusted life-years.

Keywords: Orforglipron, Oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, Treatment adherence, Patient satisfaction, Quality of life

Dr. Palanisamy Amirthalingam is a renowned researcher and academician whose contributions to pharmacy practice and healthcare research have significantly advanced the field. With over 15 years of experience in pharmacy practice education and research, Dr. Amirthalingam has established himself as a leader in addressing critical healthcare challenges through innovative research methodologies and impactful studies. ​He’s currently working as an Associate Professor in the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Tabuk, Saudi Arabia. ​ Dr. Amirthalingam’s research interests are diverse and encompass maternal health outcomes, vaccination, epilepsy, diabetes, and cardiovascular-related outcomes.

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The deadline for submitting manuscripts is 30th July 2027.
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