Novo Nordisk Makes Waves with Wegovy
The Danish company launched the pill — the oral version of its blockbuster Wegovy obesity drug — in the U.S. in January. It was the first pill version of a popular obesity drug to be approved for sale in the U.S.
The strong demand for the company’s Wegovy products helped the drugmaker beat analysts’ estimates for its first-quarter earnings. Novo Nordisk also lifted its full-year 2026 outlook after it had earlier warned of a bigger impact on its sales due to lower drug prices in the U.S.
In its earnings report, Novo Nordisk said over 1.3 million prescriptions were filled for the Wegovy pill during the quarter, which ended on March 31. However, in a follow-up update earlier this month, the drugmaker noted that prescriptions had topped 3 million since then.
“The majority of new prescriptions filled for Wegovy pill (more than 80%) are for people new to GLP-1 therapy, indicating the oral formulation is expanding the obesity treatment market, rather than replacing existing therapies,” Novo Nordisk said in the update.
