Australia’s medicines regulator has approved a pill version of Wegovy, the weight-loss drug that until now Australians could only get as a weekly injection. The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) approved the daily pill, made by the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, on Tuesday, the Australian Financial Review reported1. The paper said Australians will be able to buy the tablets by the end of the year1.
Wegovy belongs to a family of drugs known as GLP-1 medicines, the same group that includes Ozempic. The Financial Review said the approval is expected to sharply increase the number of people taking these drugs in Australia1.
What happened
The TGA decides which medicines can be sold in Australia. Its approval of the Wegovy pill gives Australians a second way to take the drug: a tablet once a day, rather than an injection once a week1.
The decision follows approvals elsewhere. In early October, the Financial Review reported that the TGA was expected to follow regulators in the United States and Europe in approving the pill2. In the US, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved the Wegovy pill in December 2025, which ABC News described as the first GLP-1 pill approved for weight loss3.
Interest in Australia appears to be high. Before the decision, more than 10,000 Australians had joined an online wait-list for new weight-loss pills that were expected to arrive by Christmas, according to the Financial Review2. That wait-list covered oral versions of both Wegovy and Mounjaro, another popular weight-loss drug2.
The evidence so far
The pill contains semaglutide, the same active ingredient as the Wegovy injection3. The main results behind it come from Novo Nordisk. According to the company, a 64-week trial with more than 300 people with obesity or overweight found that those who took the pill once a day and completed the trial lost an average of 16.6% of their body weight3. The company said that was similar to the weight loss seen with the weekly injectable form of Wegovy, which launched in 20213.
Novo Nordisk also said people taking the pill had side effects similar to those on the injection, mainly stomach and gut problems such as nausea, diarrhea and vomiting3.
The 16.6% figure counts only people who finished the trial3. People who stopped early are not included in that number, so it may look different from an average across everyone who started.
Novo Nordisk and some doctors have pointed to practical differences from the shot. ABC News reported that the pill is cheaper to produce, does not need to be kept in a fridge, and suits people who cannot or prefer not to use injections3.
What it does not show yet
The sources available for this article do not say exactly which Australian patients the TGA approved the pill for, what dose was approved in Australia, or the exact date it will reach pharmacies. The Financial Review’s report gives only a timeframe of the end of the year1.
For comparison, in the US the pill is expected to be prescribed to people with obesity and to people who are overweight, ABC News reported3. The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention defines obesity as a body mass index (a measure of weight relative to height) of 30 or higher3. In the US, the pill is usually prescribed alongside a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity3. Whether Australian rules mirror these exactly is not stated in the sources.
An approval also does not answer what happens after people stop taking the drug. A guide from a Sydney general practice notes that the evidence points to a high chance of regaining weight after stopping these medicines if healthy habits are not adopted4.
Who is behind it
The pill is made by Novo Nordisk, which also makes the Wegovy and Ozempic injections3. The trial results quoted so far were reported by the company itself3, and Novo Nordisk has a direct commercial interest in the pill’s success.
When the FDA approved the pill, Dave Moore, an executive vice president at Novo Nordisk’s US operations, said in a statement:
“We are confident that the expansion of Wegovy to a pill will help patients who may have not sought or accepted treatment before.”
That quote was given about the US approval, reported by ABC News3. The sources for this article do not include a company statement about the Australian decision.
How it fits the field
Until recently, the most widely used drugs in this family were weekly injections, including semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro)4. Pills are a newer option. Earlier this year, the Sydney practice’s guide noted that the Wegovy pill was available in the US but not yet in Australia, and that new medicines must be reviewed by the TGA for safety and effectiveness before they can be sold there4.
Other companies are developing their own pills. Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk’s main rival, is working on a GLP-1 pill called orforglipron3. In a major study, people on the highest dose lost about 12% of their body weight on average over 72 weeks, compared with little weight loss in people on a placebo (a dummy pill), according to the Sydney practice’s summary4. That guide, written in March, said orforglipron was expected in the US by mid to late 2026 and in Australia by 20274. Another pill under study, aleniglipron, produced weight loss of up to 16% in some patients after about 44 weeks in trials, the same guide said4.
These figures come from different trials with different lengths, people and designs, so they cannot be compared directly with each other or with the Wegovy pill’s results.
What to watch next
- Launch timing: whether the Wegovy pill reaches Australian pharmacies by the end of the year, as the Financial Review reported1.
- Who can get it: the exact conditions the TGA attached to the approval, which were not described in the sources for this article.
- Demand: how the more than 10,000-person wait-list reported in October translates into actual prescriptions2.
- Rival pills: whether Eli Lilly’s orforglipron follows in Australia, which a Sydney clinic’s guide expected around 20274.
- Longer-term data: independent results on how people fare on the pill over time, and after they stop.
Biohack will follow this thread as the pill moves from approval to pharmacies. This article is news, not medical advice.
