The US Food and Drug Administration has approved a pill version of the drug Wegovy from Novo Nordisk as a treatment for weight loss.
The pill was approved for chronic weight management in adults with obesity or overweight and at least one related health condition.
The oral medication contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic, which is also made by Novo Nordisk and primarily prescribed for type 2 diabetes.
The FDA had already approved an oral semaglutide made by Novo for diabetes called Rybelsus.
Novo said the 1.5-milligram starting dose of the Wegovy pill will be available in early January and will cost $149 (€126) per month from some providers.
Additional information on cost will be available in January.
A daily pill gives doctors another option for prescribing GLP-1 medicines for obesity and could broaden patient access and reduce costs.
Wegovy as well as Eli Lilly's weight-loss drug Zepbound are normally injected once a week.
Obesity is epidemic in the United States, where some 40% of adults and 21% of children and teens are obese, according to the Trust for a Better Health's State of Obesity Report 2025.
One in eight Americans (or 12%) say they currently take GLP-1 drugs for weight loss or another chronic condition, according to a November poll by health policy research organization KFF.
But many more have trouble affording the costly weekly shots.
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The approval could help spur a turnaround for the Danish pharmaceutical giant after a rocky year of sliding shares and slowing sales of its injectable Wegovy.
Lilly's Zepbound currently dominates the US weight-loss drug market.
US-listed shares of Novo jumped 8% after the approval announcement for its Wegovy pill.
Novo is manufacturing the pill in the United States and has been building up supplies of the pill "for some time" to ensure that it has "ample supply", David Moore, Novo's executive vice president of US operations said.
Lilly also has a daily weight-loss pill orforglipron under review for diabetes and weight loss. The FDA is expected to approve it early in 2026.
Novo's oral semaglutide needs to be taken in the morning on an empty stomach, 30 minutes before eating, drinking or using any other oral medication.
Lilly's pill will not have those restrictions, if approved.