Novo: Oral version of Ozempic leads to 15% weight loss

An oral version of semaglutide, the drug marketed as Ozempic and Wegovy, led to dramatic weight loss in a trial enrolling people with obesity, manufacturer Novo Nordisk said Monday, data that could bolster what is already a blockbuster medicine.

In the study, which enrolled nearly 700 adults classified as having overweight or obesity, patients treated with a daily semaglutide tablet lost 15.1% of their body weight over the course of 17 months, while those on placebo lost 2.4%, Novo Nordisk said. The result is comparable to weekly injections of Wegovy, which in an earlier study led to 14.9% weight loss over the same period of time. In both studies, the most common side effects were gastrointestinal distress, with the majority of cases graded mild or moderate, the company said.

Novo Nordisk said it plans to submit oral semaglutide for U.S. and E.U. approvals later this year. A lower-dose version of the drug is already approved as a treatment for type 2 diabetes under the brand name Rybelsus.