FDA allows US sales of new weight-loss pill

Oral form of Wegovy to be available in '26

- DANI BLUM

Wegovy weight-loss pills have been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration.

(NOVO NORDISK/NYT)

The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday approved a pill version of the blockbuster weight-loss injectable drug Wegovy, offering patients who fear or are uncomfortable with needles a more palatable option.

The medication, simply called the Wegovy pill, will be available in the United States early next year. It is roughly as effective as the shot, data from a clinical trial sponsored by Novo Nordisk, the company that makes the drug, suggests.

The pill contains a much larger dose of semaglutide, the compound that is in Wegovy and the diabetes drug Ozempic, than the shots because only a fraction of the substance is absorbed into the bloodstream when it is swallowed instead of injected.

There is already a form of oral semaglutide on the market, the diabetes drug Rybelsus. But the highest dose of Rybelsus is 14 milligrams, compared with the 25 milligrams in the maintenance dose of the Wegovy pill; people who take the Rybelsus pill usually lose much less weight than people who take the Wegovy or Ozempic shots.