“This gives obese patients who want to lose weight the choice between a once-a-week injection or a daily tablet,” said 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 pharmaceutical companies are racing to create effective pill versions that could be preferable for some patients. These medications mimic a naturally occurring hormone in the body that acts on the brain and intestines to promote feelings of fullness.
In results of clinical trials published in the New England Journal of Medicine, participants taking the pill achieved an average weight loss of 13.6 percent in 64 weeks. Nearly 30 percent of people lost 20 percent or more of their weight. The study also showed improvements in cardiovascular disease risk and physical activity levels, similar to the injectable version.
Although pills can sometimes be a more convenient option, patients don’t always take them as prescribed, making them less effective. The clinical trial researchers estimate that in an ideal scenario in which participants take the pill every day as prescribed, weight loss would be 16.6 percent – which is similar to the results seen with injectable Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk first received approval in 2019 for an oral semaglutide, sold under the brand name Rybelsus, for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. That drug has never been approved for obesity and is not as effective for weight loss as newer GLP-1 drugs. The Wegovy pill is essentially a higher dose version of Rybselsus.
“The effectiveness of the obesity pill at the end of the day is determined by the dose. Higher doses are needed to achieve the full obesity weight loss potential,” says Lange. The Wegovy pill is 25 milligrams, while Rybelsus is 14 milligrams.
The most common side effects of oral Wegovy are nausea and vomiting, which are also side effects of the injectable version.
Novo says the pill’s starting dose, 1.5 milligrams, will be available in early January for $149 per month with savings offers. Production of the drug is already underway at Novo Nordisk’s U.S. manufacturing sites, and the company expects to have enough of the drug to meet U.S. demand.
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