Eli Lilly said on Thursday its experimental pill, orforglipron, led to weight loss of nearly 8% at the highest dose and lowered blood sugar in patients with type 2 diabetes in a late-stage trial.

The results exceeded Wall Street targets and pushed the U.S. drugmaker's shares up 14%, while dragging down rival Novo Nordisk and obesity drug developer Viking Therapeutics.

An oral drug is seen as a more convenient option compared to currently available weekly injections. Several companies are developing weight-loss pills, encouraged by estimates that sales of obesity treatments could hit $150 billion in the coming years.

Lilly, which has started stockpiling supplies of the pill, said it planned to file by the end of this year with global regulators for approval.

"As a convenient once-daily pill, orforglipron may provide a new option and, if approved, could be readily manufactured and launched at scale," Lilly's CEO David Ricks said in a statement.

Analysts were keenly eyeing side effects seen in the trial, which could be a stumbling block for the drug.

The late-stage trial found that between 13% to 18% of patients given the drug experienced nausea across doses, compared with 2% of placebo patients. The rate for diarrhea was 19% to 26% and vomiting was 5% to 14%.

Lilly said no liver safety signal was observed in its trial.

On Monday, Pfizer discontinued development of its experimental weight-loss pill danuglipron after a trial patient experienced potential drug-induced liver injury that resolved after the medication was stopped.

Lilly said 8% of trial patients on orforglipron's highest dose discontinued treatment.

Levels of HbA1c, a measure of blood sugar over time, fell by an average of 1.3% to 1.6% across doses.

Analysts at TD Cowen, in a recent research note, said a "rough bar" for the orforglipron trial was HbA1C lowering of 2%, weight loss of 7% and a discontinuation rate of 9%.

Lilly currently sells injectable tirzepatide -- the active ingredient in its diabetes drug Mounjaro and obesity treatment Zepbound -- which mimics natural peptide hormones GLP-1 and GIP.

Orforglipron also targets GLP-1, but unlike hormone-mimicking peptides, which also include Novo's Ozempic and Wegovy, it is a synthetic small molecule drug.

Orforglipron and similar experimental pills could mean wider access to effective weight-loss options since the manufacturing of small molecule drugs is simpler.