Oral semaglutide: is the new Wegovy pill as effective as injections?

Last month, the MHRA announced it had approved a pill form of Wegovy for weight loss. This marks the first time any GLP-1 weight loss tablet has been made available in the UK.¹

The news will no doubt be welcomed by those who are uncomfortable taking Wegovy injections. Until now, Wegovy users in the UK had to self-inject once weekly. With the new Wegovy pill, however, users take a single tablet daily.

But are they like-for-like? Are Wegovy tablets as effective as injections?

Let's learn more about this new oral form of Wegovy and explore the results of weight loss trials.

The Wegovy weight loss pill: key facts

Like injectable Wegovy, the Wegovy pill is a prescription-only medication manufactured by Novo Nordisk. Because it's prescription-only, you must have a clinical consultation before the drug can be prescribed.

The new pill is taken once daily. You must take the pill on an empty stomach after fasting for at least eight hours. After you take the pill, you mustn't eat or drink anything for at least 30 minutes.

New users start on a 1.5mg dose before stepping up to 4mg, 9mg and eventually 25mg doses. You must take each dose for at least a month before moving to the next dose. This is similar to injectable Wegovy, which also has a dose escalation period.

Following the MHRA's approval, the Wegovy pill will soon be available from private healthcare providers in the UK. However, it's not yet available on the NHS. That's because the NHS has its own drug approval processes, which take some time
.

Is oral Wegovy as effective as injections?

As with any new medication, the Wegovy pill went through extensive clinical trials to make sure it's safe and effective.

In a phase 3 trial, 205 participants were randomly assigned to receive either a 25mg dose of oral Wegovy or a placebo (dummy tablet).²

Those receiving oral Wegovy lost an average of 13.6% of their starting weight after 71 weeks of treatment. That's compared to just 2.2% in the placebo group.²

This result is similar to the phase 3 clinical trial for injectable Wegovy. In that study, participants taking Wegovy lost an average of 14.9%.³

However, while this is a useful yardstick, it's important to note that these results aren't directly comparable.

To know exactly how effective the Wegovy pill is compared to injectable Wegovy, researchers would need to run a head-to-head trial. That would mean treating groups of participants with each drug under identical conditions.

Quick comparison: Wegovy tablets vs injectable Wegovy