The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved the first-ever GLP-1 weight loss pill. Novo Nordisk developed a pill version of Wegovy. “The Wegovy pill is the first oral glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist therapy approved for weight management,” Novo Nordisk stated in a press release. The company expects the Wegovy pill to be widely available in January. #NEWS: A new FDA-approved oral weight loss medication is here. For many people, a pill may be their preferred option. Details: https://t.co/vYbBcwpgbi #Obesity #WeightLoss #WeightManagement pic.twitter.com/5ABXhbKehz — Novo Nordisk US (@novonordiskus) December 23, 2025 NBC News has more: GLP-1 drugs — which include semaglutide, the drug in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy, and tirzepatide, the drug in Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound — have soared in popularity in recent years. The compounds, initially approved for diabetes, can also offer significant weight loss. The drugs all come in an injectable form. (Novo Nordisk does make one pill version of semaglutide, called Rybelsus, for diabetes. It comes in a lower dose than the new version for weight loss.) “This is a meaningful step forward in the field,” said Dr. Christopher McGowan, a gastroenterologist who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina. “It won’t replace injectables, but it broadens our tool kit in an important way.” “The pill is here. With today’s approval of the Wegovy pill, patients will have a convenient, once-daily pill that can help them lose as much weight as the original Wegovy injection,” Novo Nordisk President and CEO Mike Doustdar said. “As the first oral GLP-1 treatment for people living with overweight or obesity, the Wegovy pill provides patients with a new, convenient treatment option that can help patients start or continue their weight loss journey. No other current oral GLP-1 treatment can match the weight loss delivered by the Wegovy pill, and we are very excited for what this will mean for patients in the US,” Doustdar continued. Good Morning America shared coverage: The FDA has approved the first pill form of Wegovy, a GLP-1 drug for weight loss. @sophieflayabc reports. pic.twitter.com/NCLeUQww71 — Good Morning America (@GMA) December 23, 2025 CNBC noted: Some health experts said pills could reach people who are afraid of needles or patients who might benefit from the existing injections but don’t take them because they don’t view their need as severe enough. It’s unclear exactly how many people are using GLP-1s in the U.S., especially for obesity in particular. But around 1 in 8 adults said they were taking a GLP-1 drug to lose weight or treat another chronic condition as of November, according to a poll from health policy research organization KFF. The approval gives Novo Nordisk a head start over its chief rival Eli Lilly, which is currently the dominant player in the market and is racing to launch its own obesity pill. Pills are the next battleground for the two drugmakers, which established the booming GLP-1 space that some analysts say could be worth roughly $100 billion by the 2030s. Wall Street thinks there’s plenty of room for pills in the market, with Goldman Sachs analyst saying in August that pills could capture a 24% share — or around $22 billion — of the 2030 global weight loss drug market.