Battle of the bulge, weight loss pill wins approval
US regulators have given the green light to a pill version of blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, the first daily oral medication to treat obesity.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s approval on Monday gave drugmaker Novo Nordisk an edge over rival Eli Lilly in the race to market an obesity pill. Lilly’s oral medication, or forglipron, is still being studied.
Both pills are GLP-1 drugs that work like commonly used injectables to mimic a natural hormone that controls appetite and feelings of fullness.
In recent years, Novo Nordisk’s injectable Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound have revolutionized the treatment of obesity globally and in the United States, where 100 million people have the chronic disease.
Wegovy pills are expected to be available within a few weeks, company officials said. The availability of oral pills to treat obesity could expand the burgeoning market for obesity treatments by expanding access and reducing costs, experts said.
About one in eight Americans use injectable GLP-1 drugs, according to a survey from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research group. But many more are struggling to afford expensive vaccines.
Massachusetts General Hospital obesity specialist Dr. “There’s a whole demographic that could benefit from the pills,” Fatima Cody Stanford said.
“For me, it’s not just about who crosses the finish line first. It’s about making these options available to patients.”
Novo Nordisk obesity pill contains 25 milligrams of semaglutide. This is the same ingredient in the injectable drugs Wegovy and Ozempic and Rybelsus, a lower-dose pill approved in 2019 to treat diabetes.
In one clinical study, participants taking Wegovy by mouth lost an average of 13.6 percent of their total body weight over approximately 15 months; In contrast, if they took a placebo or fake pill, the rate was 2.2 percent. This is almost the same as injectable Wegovy, with an average weight loss of 15 percent.
Regardless of the format, the biggest benefit will be making weight-loss drugs more widely available and affordable, said Angela Fitch, an obesity expert and chief medical officer of Knowwell, a healthcare company.
“It’s all about price,” he said.
“Give me a relatively effective drug for US$100 ($A150) a month.”
Australia’s Associated Press is the beating heart of Australian news. AAP is Australia’s only independent national news channel and has been providing accurate, reliable and fast-paced news content to the media industry, government and corporate sector for 85 years. We inform Australia.
