Ozempic and Wegovy are just as effective for weight loss when taken daily as a pill instead of as a weekly shot, according to new research published Sunday in The Lancet medical journal.

Both medications are used for the treatment of Type 2 diabetes but have recently been found effective for long-term weight management and obesity treatment.

What You Need To Know

  • A pair of studies from Novo Nordisk found that semaglutide taken as a pill is as effective for weight loss as injections

  • The pills were effective at higher doses than what is administered by shot

  • Gastrointestinal side effects were common; Eighty percent of the participants who took the 50 mg pill experienced mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues

  • The pills were found to be effective in patients who have type 2 diabetes as well as those who do not

Drugmaker Novo Nordisk conducted the two studies, which administered the active ingredient semaglutide as a higher-dose pill taken daily compared with a 2.4-milligram injection once a week. In one study, the patients had type 2 diabetes. In the other, the patients did not.

The study with nondiabetics included 667 patients in nine countries spanning Asia, Europe and North America. The participants were randomly given either a 50 mg pill or a placebo once a day for 68 weeks. For those given the 50 mg pill, the estimated mean bodyweight loss was six times higher than the placebo: 15.1% compared with 2.4%.

About 85% of the patients in the study achieved bodyweight reductions of at least 5% on the pill compared with just 26% of those who were taking the placebo.

The study with type 2 diabetes patients included 1,600 patients in 14 countries who were given daily semaglutide pills in doses of 14, 25 and 50 milligrams. It found that participants who took doses of 25 and 50 milligrams lost more weight and also experienced larger reductions in blood sugar than individuals who took the 14-milligram dose.

In both studies, however, the weight loss came with side effects. Eighty percent of the participants who took the 50 mg pill experienced mild to moderate gastrointestinal issues, such as vomiting, diarrhea or constipation.

Semaglutide is most widely available under the brand names Ozempic and Wegovy as an injection that contains 2.4 milligrams of semaglutide. It is available as a pill under the brand name Rybelsus, but only in doses of 14 milligrams.