The next generation of weight-loss drugs could be launched next year, and they could be game-changing. The treatment, being dubbed "Ozempic 2.0," is a pill version of the already widely-used Ozempic. Novo Nordisk, the pharmaceutical company developing the new tablet form, said its initial clinical trials revealed that Ozempic 2.0 "lowered weight by an average of 10.5 per cent". Rival company Eli Lilly is also working on a pill. Its executive vice president, Kenneth Custer, said: "We are moving with urgency toward global regulatory submissions to potentially meet the needs of patients." The drugs are currently awaiting approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the USA.

The game-changing medicines could make life much easier for those hoping to shed weight, and for people with diabetes. Eli Lilly Chief Scientific Officer Dan Skovronsky said: "For the majority of patients, this could be the main medicine that they need to control their type 2 diabetes as well as their obesity." Currently, the drug is administered in the form of a once-weekly injection via an injectable pen. The pen has to be refrigerated. Mr Custer told reporters: "If approved, we are ready to offer a convenient, once-daily pill that can be scaled globally, removing barriers and redefining how obesity is treated around the world." It is also likely that the new treatment will be cheaper.