Wegovy pill delivers 21.6% weight loss in early responders

Novo Nordisk presented new analyses of its Wegovy pill at the European Congress on Obesity (ECO2026) on May 13, 2026, reporting that early responders lost an average of 21.6% of their body weight and saw roughly double the improvement in mobility measures compared with other patients ^[1]. The company is using the results to argue that its oral form of semaglutide, sold as a 25 mg tablet, can compete with the injectable version on effectiveness ^[1].

The Wegovy pill is a tablet form of semaglutide, the same active ingredient in the injectable Wegovy pen, Ozempic, and Rybelsus ^[1]. The FDA approved it on December 22, 2025, as the first and only oral GLP-1 medicine for weight loss in adults, taken once daily on an empty stomach in doses of 1.5 mg, 4 mg, 9 mg, or 25 mg ^[1]. The injectable version is dosed weekly and ranges from 0.25 mg up to a newer high-dose 7.2 mg option approved in March 2026 ^[1].

The 21.6% figure reported at ECO2026 applies specifically to "early responders," a subgroup the source material does not define in detail ^[1]. It sits above the 16.6% average weight loss reported in a separate published study of the 25 mg pill in people with obesity, released in September 2025, suggesting that patients who respond quickly to the drug may end up losing significantly more weight than the trial average ^[1]. A day earlier, on May 12, 2026, Novo also presented data showing a higher dose of the injectable Wegovy produced nearly 28% weight loss in early responders, underscoring that the company is highlighting best-case subgroup results across both its pill and injection formulations ^[1].

Separately, an indirect comparison presented in April 2026 found the Wegovy pill produced greater weight loss than orforglipron, the oral GLP-1 drug sold as Foundayo, and was linked to lower odds of patients stopping treatment because of side effects ^[1]. Novo has not published head-to-head trial data comparing the two oral drugs directly, based on the material reviewed here, so this comparison relies on indirect statistical methods rather than a study that put patients on both drugs at once.

Why it matters for patients

For people weighing a pill instead of a weekly shot, the early-responder data suggest the oral form can produce weight loss in the same range often associated with injectable GLP-1 drugs, at least for some patients ^[1]. But "early responder" results are not the same as the average result a new patient should expect, since these figures describe a subset of people who already showed a strong response, not the full study population ^[1].

Common side effects of Wegovy, in either form, include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, abdominal pain, and other gastrointestinal symptoms, and the drug carries a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumor risk ^[1]. Cost remains a factor too: Novo Nordisk cut U.S. list prices for its semaglutide medicines in February 2026 and launched a multi-month subscription program in March 2026 offering savings of up to $1,200 a year, following an earlier move to price Wegovy at $499 a month through its NovoCare Pharmacy in March 2025 ^[1].

What happens next

The ECO2026 presentations are new analyses of existing trial data rather than a new clinical trial, so independent, peer-reviewed publication of the full early-responder results is not yet confirmed in the material reviewed ^[1]. It is not yet known how regulators or independent researchers will evaluate the comparison between the Wegovy pill and orforglipron, since the April 2026 analysis was indirect rather than a head-to-head study ^[1].