Is there a semaglutide pill for weight loss?
Part of the semaglutide for weight loss overview.
Wegovy injection (under the skin) and Wegovy tablets (by mouth) are FDA-approved for weight management in certain people; Ozempic injection, Ozempic tablets and Rybelsus tablets are approved only for adults with type 2 diabetes (checked September 27, 2026). Wegovy tablets are a once-daily pill form of semaglutide, the same medicine that is in Wegovy injection, which is given once weekly. [1] Wegovy tablets, Ozempic tablets and Rybelsus tablets are different semaglutide tablet products.
Which semaglutide tablets are FDA-approved for weight loss?
Approved uses differ by semaglutide product. Semaglutide tablets are sold under more than one brand name, and approved uses differ by tablet product.
The FDA status table lists each semaglutide product with its route and the uses in its prescribing information.
| Product | FDA status |
|---|---|
| Wegovy tablets | Wegovy (semaglutide) tablets, taken by mouth, are FDA-approved, with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, to reduce excess body weight and keep it off long term in adults with obesity, or in adults with overweight who have at least one weight-related condition, and to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight. Wegovy tablets are not approved for MASH or for children. They require a prescription. Source: FDA prescribing information. |
| Ozempic tablets | Ozempic (semaglutide) tablets, taken by mouth, are FDA-approved, along with diet and exercise, to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, and to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for these events. They require a prescription. Source: FDA prescribing information. |
| Rybelsus tablets | Rybelsus (semaglutide) tablets, taken by mouth, are FDA-approved, along with diet and exercise, to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes, and to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes who are at high risk for these events. They require a prescription. Source: FDA prescribing information. FDA's shortage and discontinuation data list Rybelsus tablets as 'To Be Discontinued' (posted June 4, 2026). |
| Wegovy injection | Wegovy (semaglutide) injection, given under the skin, is FDA-approved, with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, to reduce excess body weight and keep it off long term in adults and children 12 and older with obesity, and in adults with overweight who have at least one weight-related condition. It is also approved to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with established cardiovascular disease and either obesity or overweight. It requires a prescription. Source: FDA prescribing information. Wegovy (semaglutide) injection, given under the skin, is FDA-approved, with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, for noncirrhotic MASH with moderate to advanced liver fibrosis (stages F2 to F3) in adults under FDA's accelerated approval program, based on improvement of MASH and fibrosis. Continued approval may depend on a confirmatory trial. |
| Ozempic injection | Ozempic (semaglutide) injection, given under the skin, is FDA-approved, along with diet and exercise, to improve blood sugar control in adults with type 2 diabetes. It is also approved to lower the risk of major cardiovascular events in adults with type 2 diabetes and established cardiovascular disease, and to lower the risk of kidney function decline, kidney failure and cardiovascular death in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease. It requires a prescription. Source: FDA prescribing information. |
One prescribing information document (Revised 1/2026) covers two separate tablet products: Rybelsus tablets and Ozempic tablets. The prescribing information for Rybelsus tablets and Ozempic tablets says under Dosage and Administration: 'RYBELSUS and OZEMPIC tablets are not substitutable on a mg-to-mg basis.'
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026; Ozempic tablets prescribing information, Revised 1/2026; Rybelsus tablets prescribing information, Revised 1/2026; Wegovy injection prescribing information, Revised 06/2026; Ozempic injection prescribing information, Revised 05/2026.
Ozempic injection, Ozempic tablets and Rybelsus tablets are not FDA-approved for weight management. Their approved uses are listed in the FDA status table. Prescribing them for weight management is off-label. For weight management in certain people, together with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, FDA has approved Wegovy injection, given under the skin, and Wegovy tablets, taken by mouth.
Whether a product is appropriate for a specific person is decided by a licensed clinician using that product's prescribing information.
Each semaglutide product in the FDA status table is available only with a prescription (checked September 27, 2026).
Regulatory status checked September 27, 2026. Sources: www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/209637s038lbl.pdf; www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/213051Orig1s030lbl.pdf; www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/215256s025lbl.pdf; www.fda.gov/…/fda-clarifies-policies-compounders-national-glp-1-supply-begins-stabilize; public-inspection.federalregister.gov/…/2026-12937.pdf; www.fda.gov/…/fda-proposes-exclude-semaglutide-tirzepatide-and-liraglutide-503b-bulks-list; www.fda.gov/…/fdas-concerns-unapproved-glp-1-drugs-used-weight-loss; www.fda.gov/…/compounding-and-fda-questions-and-answers; www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/218316Orig1s000ltr.pdf; www.accessdata.fda.gov/…/218316s007lbl.pdf
What Wegovy tablets are
Wegovy tablets and Wegovy injection share one FDA prescribing information document and one Medication Guide. Each Wegovy tablet contains 1.5 mg, 4 mg, 9 mg or 25 mg of semaglutide, plus an absorption enhancer called salcaprozate sodium (SNAC).
How to take Wegovy tablets
The Wegovy label says to take one Wegovy tablet by mouth once daily on an empty stomach in the morning, with no more than 4 ounces of plain water.
| Topic | What the Wegovy prescribing information, Section 2, says |
|---|---|
| When and with what | Once daily, empty stomach, morning, up to 4 oz water |
| Other drinks | Water only, not other drinks |
| After the dose | Wait at least 30 minutes before food, drinks or other oral medicines |
| Swallowing | Swallow whole; do not split, crush, chew or dissolve |
| How many per day | No more than one tablet per day |
Dose schedules on this page summarize each product's prescribing information and are not instructions to follow. A prescriber sets and adjusts the dose.
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026, Section 2 (Dosage and Administration).
Wegovy tablet dose schedule
The Wegovy tablet label starts at 1.5 mg once daily for days 1 through 30, then 4 mg for days 31 through 60, then 9 mg for days 61 through 90, and 25 mg once daily from day 91 onward.
| Step | Dose schedule in the Wegovy prescribing information, Section 2 |
|---|---|
| Starting dose | Days 1 to 30: 1.5 mg once daily |
| Second step | Days 31 to 60: 4 mg once daily |
| Third step | Days 61 to 90: 9 mg once daily |
| Maintenance | Day 91 onward: 25 mg once daily (maintenance) |
Dose schedules on this page summarize each product's prescribing information and are not instructions to follow. A prescriber sets and adjusts the dose.
The Wegovy tablet label gives 25 mg once daily as the maintenance dose. If a dose step causes side effects that are not tolerated, the Wegovy tablet label says a prescriber may consider delaying the next dose increase. If the 25 mg daily tablet is not tolerated, the Wegovy label says a prescriber may consider switching to Wegovy injection 1.7 mg once weekly. If a Wegovy tablet dose is missed, the label says to skip the missed dose and take the next dose the following day. The Wegovy label gives specific steps for switching between Wegovy 2.4 mg injection and Wegovy 25 mg tablets, and a prescriber decides whether to switch.
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026, Section 2 (Dosage and Administration).
Trial evidence for the Wegovy tablet
The Wegovy label reports one 64-week, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of Wegovy 25 mg tablets for weight loss, in 307 adults with obesity, or with overweight and a weight-related condition, who did not have type 2 diabetes.
| Result | Wegovy 25 mg tablets vs placebo |
|---|---|
| Average weight change | 13.6% vs 2.4% average weight loss at 64 weeks |
| Lost at least 5% | Lost ≥5%: 76.3% vs 31.3% |
| Lost at least 10% | Lost ≥10%: 59.8% vs 14.4% |
| Lost at least 15% | Lost ≥15%: 47% vs 5.5% |
| Lost at least 20% | Lost ≥20%: 27.9% vs 3.1% |
| Stopped the study drug | Stopped the study drug: 18% vs 25.5% |
Results varied from person to person: in the Wegovy prescribing information's 64-week tablet trial, about 1 in 4 people taking Wegovy 25 mg tablets (23.7%) did not lose at least 5% of their body weight. The Wegovy label's weight results for the tablet trial count all randomized participants, including people who stopped taking the tablets. Wegovy tablets carry a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors seen in rodents. Wegovy injection (under the skin) and Wegovy tablets (by mouth) are FDA-approved for weight management in certain people; Ozempic injection, Ozempic tablets and Rybelsus tablets are approved only for adults with type 2 diabetes (checked September 27, 2026).
The Wegovy tablet trial results on this page come from the FDA label's summary of the trial, not from a published journal report. In searches of PubMed, Europe PMC and ClinicalTrials.gov run on 2026-10-01 (title and abstract), we found no published randomized trial that assigned adults to Wegovy 25 mg tablets or Wegovy 2.4 mg injection within the same trial. We found a 2026 indirect comparison of two separate placebo-controlled trials, one of Wegovy 25 mg tablets and one of Wegovy 2.4 mg injection. Novo Nordisk funded it, its authors include Novo Nordisk employees, and it reported similar weight loss. We read its abstract only. [2] ClinicalTrials.gov records returned by our search on 2026-10-01 include NCT07056803, a completed observational real-world study in 212 adults with type 2 diabetes, at doses other than Wegovy's, and NCT07225816, a recruiting non-randomized study of retained stomach contents after fasting in adults with a body mass index of 25 to 45, with or without type 2 diabetes, with oral semaglutide, injected semaglutide and injected liraglutide arms (the record gives no doses). Neither record had reported results as of that date. A 2017 phase 2 randomized trial in JAMA gave 632 adults with type 2 diabetes oral semaglutide at 2.5 to 40 mg daily, oral placebo or injected semaglutide 1.0 mg weekly for 26 weeks; those are diabetes doses, not Wegovy doses, and we read its abstract only. [3] [4] [5] The Wegovy tablet results and the Wegovy injection results come from different trials of different lengths, so the two figures are not a head-to-head comparison. The Wegovy label says Wegovy tablets have not been studied for weight reduction in adults with type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight.
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026.
Side effects and safety of Wegovy tablets
Wegovy tablets carry the same label boxed warning as Wegovy injection: semaglutide caused thyroid C-cell tumors in rodents, and whether semaglutide causes these tumors in humans is unknown because the human relevance of the rodent tumors has not been determined. The Wegovy label says Wegovy should not be used by people with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma (MTC), or with MEN 2, or by people who have had a serious allergic reaction to semaglutide or to any ingredient in Wegovy injection or Wegovy tablets. The Wegovy prescribing information, which covers both Wegovy tablets and Wegovy injection, also warns about acute pancreatitis, gallbladder disease, low blood sugar (with a higher risk when taken with insulin or a sulfonylurea), kidney injury from dehydration, severe stomach and bowel reactions, serious allergic reactions, diabetic eye complications in people with type 2 diabetes, a faster heart rate, and inhaling stomach contents during anesthesia or deep sedation.
The Wegovy label says the types and frequency of common side effects with Wegovy 25 mg tablets were similar to those seen in the Wegovy injection trials. According to the Wegovy label, the most common side effects of Wegovy include nausea, diarrhea, vomiting, constipation, stomach pain, headache, tiredness, upset stomach, dizziness, feeling bloated, belching, gas, stomach flu, heartburn, hair loss and changes in skin sensations.
According to the Wegovy prescribing information, "adverse reaction rates observed in the clinical trials of a drug cannot be directly compared to rates in the clinical studies of another drug and may not reflect the rates observed in practice."
Wegovy 25 mg tablet trial: side effects
| Side effect | Wegovy tablets vs placebo |
|---|---|
| Stopped because of side effects | Stopped for side effects: 6.9% vs 5.9% |
| Stopped because of stomach and bowel side effects | Stopped because of stomach and bowel side effects: 3.4% vs 2% |
| Severe stomach and bowel side effects | Severe stomach and bowel side effects: 2% vs 0% |
| Changes in skin sensation | Changes in skin sensation (dysesthesia): 5% vs 0% |
| Gallstones | Gallstones: 2.5% vs 1% |
If you have severe symptoms, call 911 or seek emergency care. Report side effects to FDA MedWatch.
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026; Wegovy injection prescribing information, Revised 06/2026.
How Wegovy tablets differ from Wegovy injection
| Topic | What the Wegovy label says |
|---|---|
| How it is taken | Tablet: by mouth, once daily · Injection: under the skin, once weekly |
| How much is absorbed | Absorbed: about 1 to 2% (tablet) vs 89% (injection) |
| Blood levels | Without type 2 diabetes: similar blood levels to the 2.4 mg injection, but more variable from person to person. In people with type 2 diabetes, the Wegovy label says semaglutide blood levels were lower with Wegovy 25 mg tablets than with Wegovy 2.4 mg injection, and some people with type 2 diabetes taking the tablets may have blood levels too low to work well. |
| Time to highest blood level | About 1 hour (tablet) vs 1 to 3 days (injection) |
| Breastfeeding | Not recommended with the tablets (possible SNAC build-up in the infant); no data for the injection, which has no SNAC |
| Children | Tablets: safety and effectiveness not established in children |
In a study in healthy people, the Wegovy label reports that semaglutide absorption from the oral tablet was higher after a longer fasting period following the dose. The Wegovy label advises stopping Wegovy at least 2 months before a planned pregnancy because semaglutide stays in the body for a long time.
Sources: Wegovy tablets prescribing information, Revised 06/2026; Wegovy injection prescribing information, Revised 06/2026.
Insurance and coverage
Coverage varies by plan and can depend on the reason it is prescribed. Confirm coverage, and any prior authorization, with your insurer.
Next steps
Completing an intake form or making a payment does not guarantee a prescription. You can connect with a licensed provider to ask about an evaluation.
Find a Provider · Connect With a Licensed Provider A licensed clinician decides whether treatment is appropriate. A prescription is not guaranteed.
Related pages
References
- U.S. Food and Drug Administration / Novo Nordisk. WEGOVY (semaglutide) injection and WEGOVY (semaglutide) tablets, Prescribing Information and Medication Guide. Revised 06/2026. Drugs@FDA. https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/label/2026/215256s025lbl.pdf. Accessed 2026-09-28.
- Plotkin M, Ivkovic M, Smith I, Rathor N, Chowdhury R, Hodkinson A, Kushner RF. Semaglutide 25 mg Oral Versus Semaglutide 2.4 mg Injectable: An Indirect Treatment Comparison of Weight Loss Outcomes. Diabetes, Obesity & Metabolism. 2026. DOI 10.1111/dom.70911. PubMed 42225300. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42225300/. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Sex Related Outcomes in Oral vs. Subcutaneous Semaglutide in Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus: A 12-month Real-world Study. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07056803. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07056803. Registered; no results reported as of 2026-10-01. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Investigation of the Effect of Fasting Duration and Temporary Withholding of GLP-1 RAs on Retained Gastric Contents. ClinicalTrials.gov NCT07225816. https://clinicaltrials.gov/study/NCT07225816. Recruiting; no results reported as of 2026-10-01. Accessed 2026-10-01.
- Effect of Oral Semaglutide Compared With Placebo and Subcutaneous Semaglutide on Glycemic Control in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes: A Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA. 2017. PubMed 29049653. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29049653/. Accessed 2026-10-01.