FDA Approves Once-Daily Pill Form of Wegovy for Weight Loss

MONDAY, Dec. 29, 2025 (HealthDay News) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the once-daily Wegovy (semaglutide) pill to help adults with obesity or with overweight and weight-related medical problems lose weight. The Wegovy pill is the first oral glucagon-like peptide-1 medicine for obesity in the United States.The Wegovy pill is also indicated to reduce the risk for major adverse cardiovascular events, including death, heart attack, or stroke, in adults with overweight or obesity and established cardiovascular disease.The starting dose of the Wegovy pill is 1.5 mg. The approval is based on results from the OASIS 4 phase 3 clinical trial. The 64-week study included 307 adults with obesity or overweight with one or more weight-related comorbidities, but without diabetes. Results showed that if all patients stayed on treatment, those taking the Wegovy pill once daily, in conjunction with a reduced calorie diet and exercise, achieved an average weight loss of about 16.6 percent compared with 2.7 percent seen with placebo. Even if all patients did not stay on treatment, the average weight loss was 13.6 percent for people taking the Wegovy pill versus 2.4 percent for placebo. For the pill, the common adverse reactions were similar to those seen in clinical trials with the Wegovy injection and included nausea, diarrhea, and vomiting."With more choices, health care providers are better equipped to tailor treatment approaches and support patients who want to gain control of their weight," Timothy Garvey, M.D., from the Diabetes Research Center at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, said in a statement.Approval of the Wegovy pill was granted to Novo Nordisk.More Information.Sign up for our weekly HealthDay newsletter

FDA Approves Once-Daily Pill Form of Wegovy for Weight Loss

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