Dave Moore, executive vice president of Novo Nordisk’s U.S. operations, discusses the drugmaker’s recently launched once-daily oral weight-loss pill on “The Claman Countdown.”
Wegovy’s once-daily pill, an oral spinoff of the injectable weight-loss drugs, was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in December 2025 as the first oral GLP-1 drug and launched in U.S. markets on Monday.
“There are so many patients who have been left on the sidelines because they couldn’t really see themselves being treated with an injection,” Moore, Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of US operations, said on “The Claman Countdown.” “Now that the pill is available, we’re seeing a lot of excitement and a lot of activity.”
WEIGHT LOSS DRUGS COULD ADD YEARS TO AMERICANS’ LIVES, RESEARCH PROJECT
Wegovy injection pens set up in Waterbury, Vermont, on April 28, 2025. (Shelby Knowles/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
“There’s not that much of a difference,” the drugmaker’s executive explained. “That’s what we’re so excited about. That’s what we at Novo Nordisk are so proud of: patients now no longer have to make a choice. They don’t have to make compromises.”
The pill will be available at 70,000 pharmacies nationwide, including major retailers like CVS, Costco and Good Rx.
AIM MEAT TO INCREASE PROTEIN, SUPPLEMENT OFFERS AND KITPITALIZE ON THE WEIGHT LOSS TREND
Wegovy is depicted as an injectable drug for weight loss. (Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Moore noted that the pill and injection cost about the same to produce Novo Nordisk, but making the pill affordable was a priority for the drugmaker.
In addition to the lower price, he also highlighted the secondary benefits that Wegovy brings, in addition to weight loss.
“Both the injection and the pill have a secondary indication, which is to reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease,” Moore said.
The FDA classifies the drug as a preventive drug for heart disease.
AMERICA’S OBESITY CRISIS MEETS THE OZEMPIC BOOM AS DATA GLP-1 REVEALS HOT SPOTS
Although Wegovy’s pill is the only oral GLP-1 drug approved by the FDA for weight loss, Novo Nordisk’s rival Eli Lilly is reportedly nearing approval for the oral version.
Eli Lilly headquarters in Indianapolis, Indiana, on May 3, 2023. (AJ Mast/Bloomberg via Getty Images/Getty Images)
Moore also expressed concerns about what happens when patients stop taking GLP-1 drugs, noting that many experience weight gain.
“If you stop treatment, the weight is likely to return, which is why long-term treatment is important,” he said.
“Just like when you take a medication for high blood pressure or a medication for diabetes, long-term treatment is necessary,” Moore added.
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Claman asked whether Novo Nordisk is investigating alternatives that do not require lifelong use.
‘A lot of research and development is being done [research and development] That happens, and of course we are at the center of it,” Moore said.
