Wegovy Diet Pills Now Available in the US: Here’s What That Means
The first GLP-1 weight loss pills are arriving in American pharmacies. But how will they be prescribed?
By Lauren J. Young edited by Claire Cameron
Jakub Porzycki/NurPhoto via Getty Images
A pill version of the blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy is rolling out in the United States, and people are already actively browsing prescriptions.
The pills are manufactured by Novo Nordiskthe company behind the injectable version of Wegovy and the injectable drug Ozempic, both of which are forms of semaglutide taken weekly. The pill has been approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration to treat obesity a few weeks ago. If someone received it last Friday, they “could have it in their hands today,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said. Scientific American.
Experts say a pill version of the in-demand drug, part of a class of drugs widely known as Glucagonlike peptide 1 (GLP-1) receptor agonistscould significantly reduce barriers to access. A November 2025 poll conducted by KFF Health News found that about half of people already taking a GLP-1 drug, including those with insurance, reported difficulty obtaining the drugs.
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“Accessibility has been a major, major problem. And until just recently, I’ve had patients facing huge co-pays,” says Sameer Khan, a hepatologist at John Hopkins University who treats people with liver disease and obesity. “I think it’s a pretty big step in the right direction.”
The once-a-day pill version of Wegovy loses weight in the same way as weekly injections, mimicking a gut hormone that makes people feel full more quickly and eat less. Unlike injections, the pill is absorbed through the stomach before reaching the bloodstream, meaning the dose must be higher to achieve comparable weight loss results. Novo Nordisk’s Phase 3 clinical trial revealed highest dose of 25 milligrams of the pill resulted in 16.6 percent weight loss on average at 64 weeks; an earlier trial found that the highest dose of 2.4 milligrams of Wegovy injections resulted in an average weight loss of up to 17.4 percent at 68 weeks.
People who are prescribed the pills can expect their doses to increase over several months to allow the body to adapt and assess any side effects that may occur. As part of a drug pricing deal reached by the Trump administration last year, Novo Nordisk listed the starting dose of 1.5 mg at an out-of-pocket cost of $149 per month. For a limited time, the company is offering the second dose of 4 mg for $149 per month before it is increased to $199 on April 15. Subsequent doses of 9 and 25 mg both cost $299 per month. But under some insurance plans, the pill could cost as little as $25 a month, according to the Novo Nordisk spokesperson.
The pills are easier to take, but they are also easier and less expensive to produce, ship and store. Wegovy injections should be stored in the refrigerator until use; If an injector pen is exposed to temperatures above 86 degrees Fahrenheit (30 degrees Celsius), it goes in the trash, Khan says. Despite these benefits, the cost of the pills isn’t much lower than Wegovy’s injections: doses cost $199 out-of-pocket for the first two months, then $349 per month.
“The hope was that once we had oral agents, they would be cheaper than injectables, because part of the rationale for the higher cost of injectables was the mode of delivery, the pens,” says Rozalina McCoy, an endocrinologist and internist at the University of Maryland. “Although I am not surprised, I am disappointed that oral treatment, which does not have such a higher cost, is a [similar] price for patients.
McCoy also worries that the relative ease of access to the pills could increase their off-label use among people who do not suffer from obesity.
The Novo Nordisk spokesperson maintained that the FDA had indicated the approved uses for the pills. “Body mass index requirements are not included on the Wegovy pill label, and the decision to begin treatment is based on discussions between doctors and consumers and mutual agreement,” they added.
Other options may soon be on the market, including planned oral GLP-1 orforglipron from Zepbound maker Eli Lilly, and will help reduce overall drug costs even further.
“I hope that some of the competition in this market will help them by potentially adjusting those prices further,” Khan says, “but I think only time will tell.”
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