Novo Nordisk boosts the case for its obesity pill

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A view shows a Novo Nordisk sign outside its office in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, on July 14, 2025.

Tom Little | Reuters

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All eyes are on latest pills for obesity – and a treatment from Novo Nordisk might be the primary to succeed in patients.

The 25-milligram oral version of the Danish drugmaker’s obesity drug Wegovy could win approval by the tip of the yr. Because it waits for regulators to log out, Novo Nordisk bolstered the case for its experimental pill by releasing latest data to underscore its safety and effectiveness on the ObesityWeek scientific conference in Atlanta last week.

“I feel that it adds to the evidence base to assist health care professionals and patients make further decisions about what could also be right for his or her specific case and for them specifically,” Dr. Jason Brett, principal U.S. medical head at Novo Nordisk, said in an interview in regards to the latest results.

The pill’s launch can be crucial for the drugmaker, which just lost a heated bidding war with Pfizer over the obesity biotech Metsera. Novo Nordisk is working to beef up its pipeline because it loses share within the blockbuster weight reduction drug market to chief rival Eli Lilly.

Here’s what the outcomes from the conference say in regards to the pill’s performance.

Cardiovascular advantages

Latest analyses from the corporate’s OASIS 4 clinical trial showed that the pill improved blood sugar control and delivered cardiovascular advantages.

In a single evaluation, 71.1% of participants with prediabetes who took the pill achieved normal blood glucose at 64 weeks, compared with 33.3% on placebo.

People on the pill were more prone to lose 15% or more of their body weight than those that took a placebo within the trial. And patients who lost no less than 15% of their body weight saw greater improvements in blood pressure and reductions in inflammatory markers and triglycerides.

Comparable results to Wegovy

An indirect comparison between the OASIS 4 trial and the sooner study on injectable Wegovy showed that the oral and injectable formulations delivered comparable results on weight reduction and cardiometabolic markers, in addition to safety.

Brett said, “That is not too surprising for me, because semaglutide is semaglutide. We’re just getting it into the system in a unique route of administration.” Semaglutide is the lively ingredient in Wegovy and the drugmaker’s diabetes shot Ozempic.

Brett said some individuals are content with a once-weekly injection, but noted it is important for health-care providers and patients to have alternative options.

“I feel it can really open up access further and help to expand the market” to patients who may benefit from a weight reduction treatment but aren’t taking an injection for reasons corresponding to being afraid of needles, Brett added.

Weight reduction by menopause stage

One additional evaluation found that Novo Nordisk’s pill was related to significant weight reduction in women with obesity, whatever the stage of menopause they were in.

Pre-menopausal women lost a median of 18.2% of their body weight over 64 weeks, while peri-menopausal women lost a median of 15% and post-menopausal women lost a median of 15.7% of their weight.

Brett acknowledged the small differences between groups, but noted that the burden loss across all of them was “robust and significant.” He said weight reduction may be tougher for people within the menopausal stages resulting from the hormonal changes they experience.

Improvements in physical function

One other evaluation found that individuals who took the pill and self-reported low physical function at the beginning of the trial saw improvements in comparison with the general study population at 64 weeks. Their level of physical function was determined by a questionnaire called the Patient Global Impression of Status.

A “meaningful change” in physical function was achieved by most patients, or 77.3%, taking the pill in comparison with the 42.9% who took a placebo, based on Novo Nordisk.

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Latest in health-care: Could those GLP-1 prices be prolonged to employer plans?

GLP-1 prices are dropping: Who exactly will benefit?

I used to be in Washington for much of last week and was within the Oval Office for the White House announcement on lower prices for Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 medications.

While Trump administration officials touted the hard-fought negotiations to bring down GLP-1 weight reduction drug prices for Medicare and Medicaid plans to levels paid in Europe, my query was whether or not they could extend those prices to industrial plans.

Half of Americans have employer and personal health plans, a lot of which don’t cover GLP-1s for weight reduction due to the fee. I asked how insurers could extend those prices beyond government-run plans so employees could afford the drugs.

“That is a very good query,” President Donald Trump said, deferring to Medicare Director Chris Klomp, who helped negotiate the take care of the drugmakers.

“The businesses have committed to be certain that at worst, prices are at [most-favored nation] on GLP-1s, and are committed to proceed to barter those prices down based on volume,” Klomp said.

Relating to health care services, lower rates for Medicare and Medicaid often result in cost-shifting to industrial plans, that are charged higher prices to make up for provider margins.

Reducing prices to the most-favored nation level would require pharmacy profit managers to have interaction with the drugmakers to attempt to match the federal government prices.

Among the pharmacy profit managers praised the administration’s pricing deal, nevertheless it’s not clear whether they are going to renegotiate 2026 PBM contracts for GLP-1s at this point. It’d take administration pressure to bring the MFN pricing to industrial plans next yr.

Given Trump’s post this week decrying “money sucking insurance firms,” the big insurers who own the foremost PBMs could be feeling the pressure already.