Could this 'pill' revolutionise weight loss treatment?

Ajouté : 2026-05-30

[00:00:00][music] >> Could this revolutionize weight loss treatments?

[00:00:04]>> This is a hydrogel. So, let me show you um here.

[00:00:07]>> It's a drug-free device. Once swallowed as a pill, [music] it expands like a sponge in the stomach, helping people eat less without the need for medications or injections.

[00:00:18]>> If I can get the same effect [music] without that chemical input, it's a win-win.

[00:00:24]>> It's not yet approved, but experts warn new innovations like this are never just [music] a quick fix.

[00:00:33]In this laboratory in Oxford, scientists are developing one of the next generation of obesity treatments. While weight loss injections have been described as revolutionary, here they're working on a drug-free solution.

[00:00:47]>> So, this is the Sirona pill.

[00:00:49]>> What's it made of?

[00:00:50]>> This is a hydrogel. Hydrogels are very, very absorbent. In fact, we use them in lots of different products. Like contact lenses are made of hydrogels. So, let me show you um here.

[00:01:00]>> We filmed this time-lapse footage over 20 minutes. It shows how, once swallowed, the Sirona pill expands, reducing the available volume in the stomach, suppressing appetite, leading to weight loss.

[00:01:13]>> Let's have a feel.

[00:01:14]So, do you know, you have a feel. You take it as well.

[00:01:16]>> it?

[00:01:16]>> Absolutely. So, it's soft, right? It's squishy. It's like a sponge. So, it pulls in all of that water. So, in your stomach environment, it's pulling in that glass of water you just took, and it will then hold on to that. Sort of I always think it feels like a big, large, American marshmallow.

[00:01:30]>> It's exactly what it looks like, yeah.

[00:01:32]>> So, it's very, very soft. It's gentle on your stomach, but it's actually very tough. So, it takes a few days for the stomach to break this down so that it can pass out the stomach, and it will then be excreted naturally.

[00:01:44]>> In clinical trials, people lost an average of around 4% of their body weight, consuming almost 400 fewer calories a day.

[00:01:52]>> Scientists here believe this could help people who are overweight, but not at a BMI that makes them eligible for weight loss drugs to help prevent them progressing into obesity or as a drug-free alternative to GLP-1s, especially for people transitioning off drugs like Wegovy and Mounjaro to help prevent them regaining weight.

[00:02:13]>> Ruth had an allergic reaction when she tried weight loss injections, but after years of trying to lose weight, when she took part in the clinical trial for the Serona pill, she lost three stone in 6 months.

[00:02:26]>> It was just fantastic because this was something that worked for me exactly how the GLP-1s seem to be working for other people. And if I can get the same effect without that chemical input, it's a win-win.

[00:02:41]>> Experts say this is one of many weight loss innovations on the horizon, including pills from the makers of both Wegovy and Mounjaro, which are awaiting approval in the UK.

[00:02:51]>> The opportunity is right here with all of these new wave of innovations, but these treatments are not a quick fix.

[00:03:01]These treatments need to be part of a holistic treatment pathway that can include psychological, clinical treatments, but also lifestyle, exercise, and other interventions.

[00:03:15]>> Serona is awaiting regulatory approval.

[00:03:17]They hope to launch in the UK next year.

[00:03:20]>> We are, I think, just on the sort of precipice of what we're going to see in a seismic change in the way that people interact with with their weight. And it's not about the aesthetics, it's the comorbidities and other diseases that it can cause. We need, you know, more interventions like Serona so that we don't have to get to a point where people are living with obesity at all.

[00:03:39]That would be, I think, where we should be aiming for as a society.

[00:03:42]>> In the months ahead, this could be just one of a number of breakthroughs in the prevention of a chronic disease that currently affects around a quarter of UK adults.

[00:03:53]Rebecca Barry, ITV News.