It’s the first GLP-1 pill approved for treating obesity.
Losing weight has officially become more convenient. The popular GLP-1 obesity treatment Wegovy is now available as a once-daily pill.
On Tuesday evening, the Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s high-dose oral formulation of semaglutide for obesity. In clinical trials, people taking the pill lost substantially more weight than those taking a placebo. The drug is expected to be available to the public early next year.The Wegovy pill
Semaglutide and similar drugs mimic the GLP-1 hormone, which helps regulate our appetite and metabolism, among other things. It’s the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s obesity medication Wegovy as well as its diabetes drug Ozempic.
Both Wegovy and Ozempic are taken weekly via a subcutaneous injection, though the former can be prescribed at a higher maximum dose. In 2019, the FDA approved Rybelsus, a semaglutide-based pill, but only for treating diabetes. This newest approval is the first given to a GLP-1 oral drug explicitly for treating obesity. The newly approved pill—which will maintain the Wegovy branding—is also approved for a higher maximum dosage of semaglutide (25 milligrams) than Rybelsus (14 milligrams).
