Wegovy in pill form is coming

The Wegovy brand is already one of the best selling GLP1 receptor agonists out there:

Semaglutide is the clinical name for the GLP1 formulation that powers Wegovy, and up until now it's been primarily used as an subcutaneous injection – the injection pens most people use to take their doses:

Novo Nordisk, the company behind Wegovy is not preparing to introduce a Wegovy pill – much easier to take and close to the same effectiveness as the injection.

This is a huge development that has made the news, and has holders of Novo Nordisk stock excited:

Novo Nordisk Says Its ‘Wegovy In A Pill’ Delivers Big: ’16.6% Average’ Weight Loss, Over 20% For One-Third Of Adults Struggling With Obesity - Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO), Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY)

Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE: NVO) is seeking FDA approval for the pill version of its obesity drug, Wegovy. The company highlights early data that shows safety and efficacy figures that are similar to its injectables.

BenzingaVishaal Sanjay

Novo’s Wegovy Inches Closer to Becoming First FDA-Approved GLP-1 Weight-Loss Pill

The FDA accepted Novo Nordisk’s NDA for an oral formulation of Wegovy. The agency is expected to release its verdict on the drug in the fourth quarter of this year.

BioSpaceTristan Manalac

We went straight to the source (Novo Nordisk) to see what the fuss is about.

What did Novo Nordisk announce?

Rather than a direct Novo Nordisk announcement, this news came by way of an FDA filing:

FDA accepts filing application for oral semaglutide 25 mg, which if approved, would be the first oral GLP-1 treatment for obesity

/PRNewswire/ -- Today, Novo Nordisk announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted its New Drug Application (NDA) submission for an…

Cision PR NewswireNOVO NORDISK INC.

The important bit being that there is a successful FDA trial underway, the Phase 3 OASIS 4 trials which have shown excellent results for Wegovy's pill form:

ClinicalTrials.gov

The OASIS study focuses only on overweight patients rather than those with type 2 diabetes (so much so that they excluded those with type 2 diabetes:

The FDA application is based on results from OASIS 4, a 64-week phase 3 randomized, controlled trial evaluating the efficacy and safety of once-daily oral semaglutide 25 mg versus placebo in 307 adults with obesity (BMI >/= 30 kg/m²) or overweight (BMI >/= 27 kg/m²) with one or more comorbidities.^1,3 Patients with diabetes were excluded.^1,3

The study involves 307 participants (2/3 of which are actually take semaglutide while 1/3rd take placebo), and is a relatively long term study – over 64 weeks.

The official results of the study have not been published yet, but we know from previous studies of oral Semaglutide that the results are quite remarkable:

News Details

Novo Nordisk

This can be contrasted with the known results of injected Semaglutide as reported by Novo themselves (and plenty of previous studies):

News Details

Novo Nordisk

What about Rybelsus?

Up until now, Novo Nordisk has also sold Rybelsus, a pill form of Semaglutide as well, which we've covered in the past:

GLP1 weight loss without a needle: Rybelsus

There are lots of popular GLP1 Receptor Agonist (GLP1 RA) drugs and most of them are injections under the skin (“subcutaneous injections”). Here’s a short list of the most popular ones that do require injections: * Ozempic * Mounjaro * Wegovy * Saxenda * Trulicity But we’re not here to talk about those – we’re here

GLP1 GuideGLP1.Guide Staff

While the Wegovy pill will be FDA approved for weight loss, Rybelsus is actually not approved for weight loss but rather treatment of type 2 diabetes.

It doesn't look like Novo Nordisk will be cancelling Rybelsus in any way so far, but clearly the drug will take a back seat to the production of the Wegovy pill, since the Wegovy pill would be FDA approved for weight loss specifically.

What does this mean for the GLP1 ecosystem?

GLP1 Receptor Agonist use and portrayals in the media have often been hampered by the fact that injections were required for the most effective versions.

With this opening move from Novo Nordisk to accelerate their pill form of Wegovy, it's likely that other producers of GLP1s (i.e. Eli Lilly) will also prioritize pill forms of their most popular GLP1 formulations.

Once we have a world where GLP1s are even easier to take and much more effective, we'll likely see the end of obesity as we know it for most people, leaving more resources for those who cannot take GLP1s and must find other ways to overcome obesity.

While accessibility to pill-form GLP1s and other GLP1 formulations has been a problem as of 2025, the future is certainly bright.