Shares of Eli Lilly jumped 16% Thursday morning after the pharmaceutical company released clinical trial results for its oral weight-loss drug that "demonstrated statistically significant efficacy results and a safety profile consistent with injectable GLP-1 medicines.

If approved, the pill is expected to be far easier to administer than current injectables — and far easier to manufacture.

Eli Lilly on Thursday reported promising results for a daily pill that could serve as an alternative to injectable weight-loss and diabetes drugs. Why it matters: One thing hampering the GLP-1 drug boom is the fact that they're shots — not oral medications — which keeps some prospective patients from taking them.