Wegovy weight loss pill gets UK approval

The UK’s drug regulator has approved a daily pill version of the obesity drug semaglutide (Wegovy) for weight loss.The tablet form of Wegovy, manufactured by Novo Nordisk, is the first glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonist pill to be approved by the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) for weight loss and weight management in the UK.The drug has until now been approved only in injectable form. However, oral semaglutide is already approved in the UK for treating type 2 diabetes under the brand name Rybelsus.1The MHRA’s approval of the drug for weight loss opens the door to more UK patients taking the oral version, but it will first have to be evaluated by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) before it can be used in the NHS.The treatment—which is cheaper than the traditional injectable version and has a more easily disturbed mechanism of action—was approved in…