US home › What is the Wegovy pill?
What is the Wegovy pill?
About this page. Written by the GLPInfo editorial team with AI assistance from the official sources listed at the end, and approved by the site owner before publication. It has not been reviewed by a named clinician. Published 7 Sep 2026 · next scheduled review 7 Dec 2026.
This page is information, not medical advice. It never tells you which medicine or dose is right for you: those decisions sit with you and a licensed prescriber. Report suspected side effects to FDA MedWatch. Spotted an error? Tell us.
The Wegovy pill is oral semaglutide, the same medicine as the Wegovy injection formulated as a once-daily tablet, FDA-approved for chronic weight management in December 2025 and launched in January 2026 at $149 a month for the starting dose through NovoCare.
How it works, and why the rules are strict
Semaglutide is a peptide the stomach breaks down easily, so the tablet uses an absorption enhancer and comes with administration rules: taken whole, on an empty stomach after an overnight fast, with a small amount of water, then nothing to eat or drink for at least 30 minutes. Skipping the routine substantially reduces absorption.
Doses
1.5mg daily, stepping through 4mg and 9mg to the 25mg maintenance dose at intervals of at least a month, as the prescriber judges.
What the trials showed
In OASIS 4 (published in the New England Journal of Medicine, 2025), the 25mg daily tablet produced an average weight reduction of about 14% versus 2% with placebo over 64 weeks of treatment. The tablet and injection have not been compared head-to-head in one trial.
Side effects and safety
Semaglutide's profile: predominantly gastrointestinal, with the class boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumours seen in rodents and pancreatitis and gallbladder disease among the serious risks. Report suspected side effects to FDA MedWatch. The no-food-rules alternative is Foundayo: what is Foundayo?
What it costs today
First-month all-in prices for Wegovy pill at the 1.5mg starting dose currently start from $149 at NovoCare Pharmacy across the channels we compare, read 6 Sep 2026. Compare all Wegovy pill channels or see the 12-month true cost.
Frequently asked questions
How much does the Wegovy pill cost?
$149 (1.5mg), $199 (4mg) and $299 (9mg and 25mg) through NovoCare, TrumpRx and the telehealth channels matching them, plus any membership fee. Live comparison.
Is the pill as effective as the injection?
Not compared directly in one trial. OASIS 4 showed about 14% average reduction over 64 weeks for the 25mg tablet, which the investigators described as comparable to the injection's 14.9% in STEP 1. A prescriber puts these figures in context.