Novo Nordisk is continuing to maintain its advantage in the obesity pill race after winning European approval for oral Wegovy (semaglutide).
The European Commission (EC) granted marketing authorisation to the oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) for the treatment of adults with obesity or overweight with at least one weight-related comorbidity. As with previous weight loss drug approvals, those taking the medicine must also undertake a reduced-calorie diet and increase their physical activity.
Go deeper with GlobalData
Discover B2B Marketing That Performs
Combine business intelligence and editorial excellence to reach engaged professionals across 36 leading media platforms.
The approval means Novo’s oral Wegovy is the first and currently only GLP-1RA pill available for weight management in Europe.
The Wegovy pill is taken daily and contains the same active ingredient as Novo’s weekly injection. It has similar efficacy, with users losing just under 14% of their body weight, on average, over 64 weeks. Novo’s OASIS clinical programme demonstrated that those taking the higher 25mg dose saw weight loss of around 17%. Around a third of patients taking this dose achieved weight loss of at least 20%.
Approval in Europe follows similar decisions in the US and UK, meaning Novo has gained a first-mover advantage over rivals in all three territories. Chief among the competition is Eli Lilly with Foundayo (orforglipron), a non-peptide GLP-1RA pill. Foundayo is approved in the US, having gained the FDA nod in April 2026.
Winning the race to market has already created significant success for Novo as it looks to claim back lost ground from injectables sales. In a May 2026 earnings call, Novo’s CEO Mike Doustdar highlighted a “record-breaking” start in the US.
In a June update at the annual American Diabetes Association (ADA) meeting, the company revealed that more than three million prescriptions of oral Wegovy have been issued in the US alone. According to Novo, this marks “one of the strongest US pharmaceutical launches by volume on record”. This translates to a prescription being filled every five seconds over the five months since launch, Novo calculates.
Meanwhile, its recent approval in the UK has already created waitlists with tens of thousands of patients looking to access the drug.
Novo will therefore be hoping for a similar lead in Europe. Eli Lilly has not yet filed for regulatory approval of Foundayo in Europe and it is not expected to launch on the continent until 2027.
Reacting to European approval, Doustdar said: “[This drug is] another important treatment option for people living with obesity. Obesity is a serious chronic disease, and choice can make a real difference. For many people, a tablet may be a simpler and more acceptable way to start and continue treatment.”
Eli Lilly will still take some beating across the wider obesity space, however. Revenue for the drugmaker in Q1 2026 reached $19.8bn, a surge of 56% from the same period last year, buoyed by continued sales growth for its injectable weight loss drugs.
According to GlobalData’s Obesity: Seven-Market Drug Forecast and Market Analysis – Update, the obesity market will grow at a compound annual growth rate of 32.3% until 2031, reaching sales of $173.5bn, in the seven major markets (7MM: France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Spain, the UK and the US).
GlobalData is the parent company of Pharmaceutical Technology.
