The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the popular anti-obesity medication Wegovy, produced by Novo Nordisk. This new pill is taken once a day, while the original Wegovy is administered as a weekly injection. Both formulations contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide. “This allows patients with obesity who want to lose weight to have a choice between a once weekly injection or a daily tablet,” says Martin Holst Lange, chief scientific officer at Novo Nordisk.
With the rising popularity of injectable GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, Novo Nordisk and other companies have been working hard to develop effective pill options that might be more appealing to some patients. These medications mimic a natural hormone in the body that helps trigger a sense of fullness in the brain and gut.
According to clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, participants who took the pill experienced an average weight loss of 13.6 percent over 64 weeks. Nearly 30 percent of those involved lost 20 percent or more of their weight. The study also indicated improvements in cardiovascular disease risk and physical activity levels, similar to those seen with the injectable version.
While pills can be more convenient, patients don’t always take them as directed, which can reduce their effectiveness. Clinical trial investigators suggest that in an ideal situation—where participants take the pill each day as prescribed—weight loss could reach 16.6 percent, comparable to the results from injectable Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk initially received approval for an oral form of semaglutide, branded as Rybelsus, back in 2019 to treat type 2 diabetes. However, that medication has not been authorized for obesity treatment and is less effective for weight loss compared to newer GLP-1 drugs. The Wegovy pill is essentially a higher-dose version of Rybelsus. “The efficacy for the obesity pill is ultimately determined by the dosage. Higher doses are necessary to reach the full weight-loss potential,” Lange explains. The Wegovy pill is dosed at 25 milligrams, while Rybelsus is at 14 milligrams.
Common side effects of oral Wegovy include nausea and vomiting, which are also noted with the injectable form. Novo Nordisk plans to make the starting dose of the pill, set at 1.5 milligrams, available in early January for $149 per month, along with savings options. Production is already in progress at Novo Nordisk’s manufacturing sites in the US, and the company is confident it can meet domestic demand for the medication.
