The Wegovy pill: semaglutide without the needle

On December 22, 2025, the FDA approved the Wegovy pill, a once-daily 25 mg tablet of semaglutide, the same peptide as the Wegovy injection. It was the first GLP-1 medicine taken by mouth for weight management. In its main trial, adults lost 13.6% of their body weight on average over 64 weeks, against 2.2% on placebo Studied in humans.

What the trial found

OASIS 4, published in the New England Journal of Medicine, followed 307 adults with obesity, or overweight with at least one weight-related condition, for 64 weeks.

• −13.6% average weight change on the pill, against −2.2% on placebo, counting everyone who started.
• −16.6% among people who kept taking it as planned, which Novo Nordisk says is similar to the 2.4 mg injection.
• About 1 in 3 lost 20% or more of their body weight.

Side effects

Mostly digestive and mostly mild to moderate, as with the injection. Stomach and gut side effects were reported by 74% on the pill against 42% on placebo.

What it is approved for

Reducing excess body weight and keeping it off, and lowering the risk of heart attack, stroke and heart-related death in adults with heart disease and overweight, uses the injection also carries. Novo Nordisk planned its US launch for January 2026.

Why it matters

Semaglutide is a peptide, and peptides are normally broken down in the stomach. The pill adds an absorption helper that lets enough of it through the stomach wall to work. For people who would rather not inject, it is the first real alternative, and it has pushed drugmakers to develop more peptides that can be swallowed.