LONDON -- Patients who stayed on Novo Nordisk’s daily Wegovy pill lost an average of 6.2 per cent of their body weight over three months, according to real-world data due to be presented at the ObesityWeek conference in Washington. The pill, launched in January, has helped Novo regain some ground lost to Eli Lilly, and the Danish drugmaker is trying to stay ahead of its U.S. rival in the race for oral obesity treatments. Novo’s Chief Scientific Officer Martin Holst Lange said in an interview that the real-world data was encouraging as it broadly replicated the findings of 5.5 per cent weight loss at 12 weeks seen in Novo’s late-stage trial for the pill. Study participants, who started taking the pill between January 5 and February 7, 2026, lost an average of 6.3 kg (13.9 pounds) from a baseline weight of 103.0 kg (227 pounds), Novo said. About three-fifths lost at least 5 per cent of their weight, and roughly one in six lost at least 10 per cent. The analysis covered 5,872 adults on the Ro telehealth platform who had never taken a weight-loss drug and who stayed on the pill for the full three months. Novo Nordisk’s fortunes have declined significantly since it became Europe’s most valuable listed company following the 2021 launch of its injectable weight-loss drug, Wegovy. Its stock has plummeted over 70 per cent from its peak as Lilly surpassed it to take the lead in the obesity-drug market. According to company presentations earlier this month, however, oral treatments now represent roughly a third of U.S. obesity prescriptions, with Novo securing over 80 per cent of new oral prescriptions. The company in September said separate real-world data showed patients who switched from weight-loss injections to Novo’s pill continued to lose weight. Oral Wegovy — known chemically as semaglutide — led to about a 14 per cent reduction in body weight over 64 weeks, while Eli Lilly’s obesity pill Foundayo led to about an 11 per cent reduction over 72 weeks, separate studies have shown. Reporting by Patrick Wingrove in London; Editing by Tomasz Janowski, Reuters
