Weight loss pill aims to bridge gap in obesity treatments

An expanding pill could soon offer a new and affordable weight loss treatment, following a successful clinical trial at University Hospital Southampton.

Sirona is a hydrogel-based pill that is designed to aid weight loss by reducing hunger.

After it is swallowed, the pill expands in your stomach, making you feel full faster. This helps you eat less without needing strong medications or injections.

The treatment has been developed by Oxford Medical Products (OMP).

OMP partnered with the NIHR Southampton and Bristol Biomedical Research Centres for the clinical trial, together with the North Bristol and Milton Keynes NHS Trusts.

Participants in Southampton took part at University Hospital Southampton’s NIHR clinical research facility.

In the trial, funded by Innovate UK and supported by the National Institute for Health and Care Research (NIHR), participants lost up to 13.5% of their body weight in just six months. On average, people with class 1 obesity (BMI 30-35) lost 6.4% of their body weight.

Participants also ate on average 400 fewer calories per day compared to those taking a placebo. For context, recent Government-led research suggests that even a 216-calorie daily reduction could cut the UK’s obesity rate in half.

Results have been published in the journal Obesity.

The trial was led by chief investigator Professor James Byrne within the NIHR Southampton Biomedical Research Centre.

Mr Byrne, a consultant surgeon at University Hospital Southampton, said: “Obesity is a chronic and often progressive disease. With obesity rates continuing to rise, these results are an important step towards providing a highly differentiated treatment option.

“This trial demonstrated Sirona could be a safe, affordable, and non-pharmacological treatment to support long-term weight management.”

Sirona has been designed to help two main groups of people. It could benefit those who are overweight (with a BMI between 25-30) and want to stop their weight from progressing into obesity. It could also support people who are coming off GLP-1 medications (like Ozempic or Mounjaro) and want to avoid regaining weight after stopping treatment.

GLP-1 medications have become very popular for weight loss, with around 1.5 million users in the UK. However, a significant proportion of users pay out of pocket and prices have recently doubled for some doses.

Sirona aims to be much cheaper, easier to tolerate, and available to more people.

Camilla Easter, CEO of Oxford Medical Products, said: “Sirona has demonstrated amazing results during testing with UK hospitals, which have now been externally peer-reviewed. Next, we are setting sights on commercial UK release plans, targeting 2027 to make Sirona available.”

Sirona is a dual-polymer hydrogel pill. That means it’s made from two types of safe materials that expand in the stomach. It doesn’t use drugs or chemicals to change how your body works.

The pill was well tolerated during the 24-week study. There were no serious adverse events.

OMP is planning a pivotal study in the UK and USA to further assess the effectiveness of Sirona and confirm these results.