Brazil’s National Health Surveillance Agency (Anvisa) has approved Wegovy tablets for treating obesity and overweight. Developed by Novo Nordisk, the oral medicine is the first GLP-1 agonist in tablet form approved in Brazil for these conditions. It offers an alternative to the weekly injection pen and is taken once a day at a dose of 25 mg.
Semaglutide mimics GLP-1, a hormone released after eating. It helps signal fullness to the brain and slows stomach emptying, which can prolong the feeling of satiety. The tablet dose is higher than the pen’s 2.4 mg weekly maintenance dose because some of the substance is broken down in the stomach before reaching the bloodstream.
In the main clinical trial supporting approval, participants taking the tablet lost an average of 13.6% of their body weight over 64 weeks, compared with 2.2% among those given a placebo. The study was published in The New England Journal of Medicine, and its authors said the result was close to that seen with injectable Wegovy.
The approval adds a second oral semaglutide product from Novo Nordisk to Brazil’s market. The company’s Rybelsus is used to manage type 2 diabetes, while the newly approved Wegovy tablet is indicated for obesity and overweight.
The approval was published in Brazil’s Official Gazette following an application submitted by Novo Nordisk on January 30. The company has not yet set a price and expects the medicine to reach Brazilian pharmacies next quarter.
Sources: Olhar Digital.