FDA Approves Oral Wegovy for Weight Loss as GLP-1 Drugs Expand Beyond Diabetes
The FDA approved an oral version of Wegovy in December 2025, providing a pill alternative to injections. Clinical trials showed comparable effectiveness between oral and injectable forms of semaglutide for weight loss.
In December 2025, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an oral version of Wegovy, marking the first pill form of the GLP-1 weight loss medication previously available only as a weekly injection. The new oral formulation contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient used in injectable Wegovy.
A study published in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that patients who received semaglutide pills at the maximum dose had an average weight loss of 13.6 percent from where they started. The clinical trial for the injectable semaglutide showed an average weight loss of 14.9 percent. While there is no clinical trial that compares oral and injectable semaglutide directly, a separate study looked at the indirect correlation between the two and showed that the two medications have comparable effects on weight.
The oral pill is taken once a day with water after fasting. Patients must not eat, drink, or take other medications for a half hour after taking the pill. With both injections and pills, patients start at the lowest dose and increase it every 30 days until they reach the highest level they can tolerate. The maximum dose for the injection is 2.4 milligrams, and the maximum dose for the pill is 25 milligrams, as the body absorbs the injectable and oral medications differently.
Semaglutide is part of a class of drugs known as GLP-1 receptor agonists because they mimic the action of a hormone called GLP-1, which targets the area of the brain that slows digestion and processes hunger. In injection or pill form, semaglutide decreases appetite overall and makes patients feel full sooner, so they eat less.
The side effects are the same for the pill and the shot and are usually minor: headache, nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, stomach pain, and fatigue. Most people only have side effects for a few days after starting the medication or increasing the dose. More serious side effects of the drug are very rare.
Both the oral and the injectable semaglutide help with weight loss, but the medication does not target fat specifically, so patients may experience some muscle loss. Maximum weight loss is expected after about 12 months after reaching maximum dosage. Studies have found an average maximum weight loss of 14 to 25 percent, with up to 25 percent of people losing 20 percent of their body weight.
Semaglutide is approved to treat weight loss in patients with obesity or overweight with a weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, and for cardiovascular disease in patients with obesity or overweight. Patients taking the injectable form can switch to the pill, though the doses are different.
GLP-1 receptor agonists like Ozempic and Wegovy were initially approved to treat diabetes and have since been repurposed for other conditions. Obesity is a chronic condition that affects about 40 percent of people in the United States, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.