The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has approved Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy (semaglutide) pill, marking another regulatory win for the drugmaker as it looks to close the gap to obesity market rival Eli Lilly.
The agency has authorised the tablet for adult patients with obesity and a Body Mass Index (BMI) of 30 or above. Those who are overweight with a BMI between 27 and 30 and at least one weight-related comorbidity will also qualify for prescriptions.
While being authorised for the UK market, it is unclear whether Novo’s pill will be covered on the NHS. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has yet to conduct its cost-effectiveness review for oral Wegovy, though the injectable version of the drug is highly restricted in the health service.
This uncertainty has already created lengthy queues in the UK’s private health sector. Simple Online Healthcare, a digital healthcare service, already has 55,000 people on its waitlist for an oral glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1RA) treatment.
The Wegovy pill is taken daily and contains the same active ingredient as the weekly injection. It has similar efficacy, with users losing just under 14% of their body weight, on average, over 64 weeks. The starting dose for the pill is 1.5mg, with higher doses of 4mg, 9mg and 25mg. Patients who are already taking 2.4mg of injectable Wegovy once weekly on a private prescription can be transitioned straight to the 25mg dose of tablets once daily.
Novo’s record-breaking launch
With its Wegovy pill now approved in the US and UK, Novo Nordisk is leaning on the oral weight loss sector to close the gap to Eli Lilly. The US drugmaker currently dominates the obesity drug market with tirzepatide brands Zepbound and Mounjaro. The Wegovy pill is also recommended for approval in Europe.
Wegovy pill’s approval in the UK means Novo has now beaten Lilly to market in two key regions for an oral therapy indicated for obesity. In May 2026, the Danish big pharma company’s CEO Mike Doustdar touted a “record-breaking start” for the product, with performance only going from strength to strength since.
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. 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.
Eli Lilly’s oral offering, branded Foundayo (orforglipron), is currently approved only in the US. While uptake for Novo’s product has been strong, analysts say market dynamics will hinge on a few key factors.
Foundayo’s advantage is that it does not have meal restrictions with administration. Oral Wegovy, on the other hand, must be taken on an empty stomach each morning. As a small molecule, Foundayo has more straightforward manufacturing and scalability processes compared to Wegovy, which is a peptide-based therapy. However, Novo does have the upper hand on the efficacy front. While no direct head-to-head trials have been conducted, the Wegovy pill, on average, leads to around 3% better weight loss.
Cybersecurity incident investigation ongoing
On the same day as the MHRA approval, Novo revealed that it had been the subject of a cyber-attack. The company stated that certain non-public data, including personal data, was copied externally without authorisation.
“We are informing the impacted parties as appropriate. Protecting the security and integrity of our systems and delivering reliable products and support to patients remain our highest priorities,” it said in a statement.
As part of its response, Novo has taken certain IT systems offline and is actively investigating with assistance from external cybersecurity experts.
