US Regulators Approve Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, First Daily Pill For Weight Loss

Last Updated:December 23, 2025, 13:27 IST

The FDA has approved the first daily pill for obesity, Wegovy, giving Novo Nordisk an edge over Eli Lilly in offering an oral weight-loss option.

A woman holds up a dosage of Wegovy, a drug used for weight loss (Photo: AP)

The US Food and Drug Administration has approved the first daily pill for obesity, giving drugmaker Novo Nordisk an advantage over Eli Lilly in the race to offer an oral option for weight loss.

The approval marks a significant step in making effective obesity treatments more accessible to patients who struggle with injectable medications.

Both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are developing GLP-1 drugs, which act like naturally occurring hormones that control appetite and feelings of fullness.

Novo Nordisk’s injectable Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound have already reshaped the obesity treatment landscape in the United States and globally, addressing a chronic disease affecting roughly 100 million Americans, the Associated Press reported.

Meanwhile, Lilly’s oral candidate, orforglipron, is still under FDA review.

The new Wegovy pill contains 25 milligrams of semaglutide, the same active ingredient used in the injectable versions of Wegovy and Ozempic, as well as Rybelsus, a lower-dose pill approved in 2019 to treat diabetes.

Clinical trials showed that participants taking oral Wegovy lost an average of 13.6 per cent of their body weight over roughly 15 months, compared with a 2.2 per cent loss among those taking a placebo.

This result is similar to the average 15 per cent weight loss seen with injectable Wegovy.

Lilly’s orforglipron, in comparison, led to an 11.2 per cent average reduction in body weight over nearly 17 months, compared with 2.1 per cent in the placebo group.

Weekly injections of Lilly’s Zepbound, which targets two gut hormones, GLP-1 and GIP, produced even larger weight losses, averaging 21 per cent.

Oral Wegovy must be taken with a sip of water in the morning on an empty stomach, followed by a 30-minute wait before consuming any food or drink.

Novo Nordisk added an ingredient to the pill to prevent it from breaking down in the stomach too quickly, allowing the drug to be absorbed effectively. By contrast, Lilly’s orforglipron has no dosing restrictions.

Experts expect the availability of oral medications to make obesity treatment more affordable and convenient.

Novo Nordisk officials said the Wegovy pill should be available within weeks, with a starting dose offered at $149 per month by some providers.

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