“This allows obese patients who want to lose weight to choose between a once-a-week injection or a daily tablet,” says Martin Holst Lange, chief scientific officer at Novo Nordisk.
With the growing popularity of injectable GLP-1 drugs for weight loss, Novo Nordisk and other pharmaceutical companies are racing to create effective pill versions that may be better for some patients. These medications mimic naturally occurring hormones in the body that act on the brain and gut to promote feelings of satiety.
In clinical trial results published in the New England Journal of Medicine, participants taking the pill lost an average of 13.6 percent weight for 64 weeks. About 30 percent of people lost 20 percent or more of their weight. The study also showed improvements in heart disease risk and physical activity levels similar to the injection version.
While pills can sometimes be a more convenient option, patients may not always take them as prescribed, making them less effective. Clinical trial investigators estimated that in an ideal scenario where participants take the pill every day as prescribed, there would be a 16.6 percent weight loss — similar to the results seen with injectable Vegovy.
Novo Nordisk first won approval for oral semaglutide, sold under the brand name Ribelsus, in 2019 for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. That drug has never been approved for obesity and is not as effective for weight loss as the newer GLP-1 drugs. Wegovi pill is essentially a higher dose version of ribocelsus.
“At the end of the day the efficacy of an obesity pill is dose-driven. Obesity requires higher doses to achieve full weight loss potential,” says Lang. Vegovi tablet is 25 mg while Ribelsus is 14 mg.
The most common side effects of oral Vegovy include nausea and vomiting, which are also side effects of the injection version.
Novo says the initial dose of the pill, 1.5 mg, will be available in early January for $149 per month with savings offers. Production of the drug is already underway at Novo Nordisk’s US manufacturing sites, and the company expects there will be enough of the drug to meet US demand.
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