President Trump announces price cuts for GLP-1 drugs Zepbound, Wegovy
President Donald Trump announced discounted pricing for Zepbound and Wegovy and expanded Medicare coverage to give more people access to the drugs.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Dec. 22 approved a tablet version of Novo Nordisk’s weight loss drug Wigovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity.
Novo Nordisk says the once-daily pill, called the Wegovy pill, is the “first and only” oral GLP-1 drug, or glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist. GLP-1 drugs were first used to treat diabetes, but were later approved to treat obesity, which dramatically expanded the number of patients.
“WegoBe Pill is the next chapter in our decades of GLP-1 experience and is supported by the most affordable out-of-pocket price for a bariatric GLP-1 to date,” Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of U.S. operations, said in a statement. “We are preparing for a full-scale U.S. launch in early January 2026, and manufacturing is well underway at our North Carolina facility.”
This pill contains 25 milligrams of semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Wigovy and Ozempic injections. Novo Nordisk already sells Libersus, an oral semaglutide for type 2 diabetes.
The Wegovy pill was approved for chronic weight management in adults who are obese or overweight and have at least one associated health condition. GLP-1 drugs mimic natural hormones, lowering people’s appetite and helping them lose weight.
The approval of this tablet will give Novo Nordisk a boost in the market for oral medications for the treatment of obesity. The Danish drugmaker’s rival Eli Lilly is still reviewing its oral drug, which could be approved as early as late March.
Wegovy tablets will be available in the coming weeks
Novo Nordisk said in a news release that FDA approval of Wigovy tablets was based on the results of a 64-week late-stage medical study.
Results from the study, which included more than 300 adult participants, showed that participants who took the once-daily pill lost an average of 16.6% of their weight, compared to 2.7% for those who took a placebo.
The company noted that the pill is used in conjunction with a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity in obese or overweight adults. Also, this tablet should be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before eating, drinking, or using other oral medications.
Novo Nordisk said tablets with a starting dose of 1.5 milligrams will be available in early January.
Weight-loss drugs could expand access to obesity treatment
According to a survey released in October by the Gallup National Health and Welfare Index, the adult obesity rate in the United States has gradually declined from a record high of 39.9% in 2022 to 37% in 2025.
New research shows that injectable weight loss drugs such as Wegovy and Ozempic may be contributing to the decline. The survey found that GLP-1 drug use among both men and women has more than doubled in the past year, with 12.4% of respondents saying they used the drug, compared to 5.8% as of February 2024.
GLP-1 drugs were first approved to treat diabetes in 2005, making Novo Nordisk the first company approved to market a GLP-1 drug for weight loss. The FDA approved the daily injection Saxenda to treat obesity in 2014 and Wigovy in 2021.
In recent years, Novo Nordisk’s injectables Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s Zepbound have transformed obesity treatment around the world. Earlier this month, the World Health Organization released global guidelines for the use of GLP-1 drugs in the treatment of obesity.
WHO Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus said that while drug therapy alone cannot solve the health crisis, “GLP-1 therapy can help millions of people overcome obesity and reduce the harms associated with it.”
Analysts say the weight-loss drug will address patient reluctance to injections, which some consider invasive, and expand access amid the high medical costs associated with obesity treatment.
“Pills are not a replacement for injections,” Christopher Chrisman, managing director and partner at consulting firm BCG, told Reuters. He added that some patients may prefer to continue with weekly injections.
“But tablets have clear advantages for some people. They’re convenient for travel and don’t require a refrigerator,” Chrisman said.
Contributors: Nicole Fallert, Eduardo Cuevas, Ken Alltucker, USA TODAY. Reuters
