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A new era of weight-loss pills has arrived, after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved a daily pill version of Novo Nordisk’s drug Wegovy.
The new pill, which Novo is calling “the Wegovy pill,” uses the same active ingredient (semaglutide) as the original Wegovy, as well as Ozempic, the sister drug used to treat diabetes.
Until now, Wegovy and Ozempic—and competitor drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro, from Eli Lilly—have only been available as injections. Eli Lilly is currently working on its own version of the Wegovy pill, called orforglipron.
The Wegovy pill showed similar weight-loss results and side effects as the injectable version. It will be available in the US from January.
Under an agreement made with President Trump, the starting price for the Wegovy Pill will be $149.
“We believe it will expand access and options for patients,” Dr. Jason Brett, principal US medical head for Novo Nordisk, told CNN in an interview.
“We know there are some patients who just won’t take an injectable medication.”
Around 1 in 8 US adults say they’re currently taking a weight-loss medication.
Novo Nordisk is testing semaglutide for children as young as six, and a whole host of new applications for drugs like semaglutide are being proposed, including as treatments for addiction and neurological conditions like Alzheimer’s, and even as anti-aging drugs.
In 2023, semaglutide drugs earned Novo Nordisk a whopping $21.1 billion dollars, accounting for almost two-thirds of the company’s entire revenue. Sales of the drug in its various forms were up 89% on the previous year. 71% of the drugs revenues come from customers in the US.
Novo Nordisk is now Europe’s most valuable company, with a market capitalization of $570 billion—larger than the entire Danish economy.
In recent months, as publicity for and use of these new “miracle” drugs has grown tremendously, more attention has been drawn to their side effects. Psychiatric issues, hormonal problems including reduced testosterone and loss of libido, inhalation of the contents of the stomach, and even permanent lifelong diarrhea have been reported.
Tens of thousands of people are now suing Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly for the physical damages they claim to have suffered.
Huge payouts, in the hundreds of millions or even billions, may be necessary to stem the flood of claims.
