New York: Novo Nordisk has secured the US Food and Drug Administration (US FDA)’s approval for the pill version of its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy, giving the Danish pharmaceutical company a head start in the weight loss management market. This new formulation will allow greater adoption of the weight loss drug, which has been restricted to injectables until now.
In a clinical trial by Novo Nordisk conducted earlier, the Wegovy pill had showed an average weight loss of 16.6%, with a third of the around 1,300 participants experiencing 20% or greater weight loss in the same trials.
The regulatory approval from the US FDA is expected to help Novo Nordisk get a head start in the highly lucrative weight management market, which has been growing at more than 7.6% every year.
Celebrity endorsements from the likes of Elon Musk, Oprah Winfrey and others have helped Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug brands Ozempic and Wegovy reach cult status, despite doctors warning of adverse health effects if the drugs are taken without exercise or a controlled diet.
Now that the FDA approval has come in, Novo Nordisk is expected to launch Wegovy by the end of January 2026.
Novo Nordisk hopes this pill will allow it to address the intense competition in the market, led by rival Eli Lilly’s anti-obesity drug Zepbound, also known as Mounjaro. Additionally, cheaper generic versions have also entered the market, as the molecule behind the drug- Semaglutide’s patent expires in various markets. Despite Novo Nordisk’s head start, the intense competition in the market could affect the Wegovy pills’ prospects. How that will turn out remains to be seen.
