A new generation of game-changing weight-loss drugs could be launched next year. One treatment is being dubbed "Ozempic 2.0". This is a pill version of the widely-used Ozempic. Novo Nordisk, which is developing the new tablet, said its clinical trials showed that Ozempic 2.0 "lowered weight by an average of 10.5 per cent". Rival company Eli Lilly also has a new pill. Its spokesman, 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 FDA in the USA.

The new medicines could make life easier for those hoping to lose weight, and for people with diabetes. Eli Lilly 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 in the form of a once-weekly injection. The drug has to be refrigerated. The company said: "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 drugs will be cheaper.