The UK’s first weight loss pill has been approved for use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA).
The oral version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy has been authorised for adults living with obesity, as well as some adults who are overweight and have at least one weight related comorbidity.
According to the MHRA, the treatment can be prescribed for adults with a body mass index of 30 or above, or for those with a BMI between 27 and 30 where there is at least one weight related health condition.
The starting dose is one 1.5mg tablet taken daily, before increasing to 4mg, 9mg and 25mg. The MHRA said patients should remain on each dose level for a minimum of one month.
Patients currently receiving private treatment with once weekly 2.4mg semaglutide injections can be moved directly to 25mg semaglutide tablets taken once daily.
Julian Beach, MHRA healthcare quality executive director, said the medicine had met the regulator’s rigorous standards for safety, quality and effectiveness.
He added that, like all GLP 1 receptor agonists, the treatment is a prescription only medicine.
The MHRA said the pill is not currently available on the NHS. Any decision on NHS use will follow established processes, including evaluation by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
The approval has been welcomed by the National Pharmacy Association(NPA), which said it could provide an important new option for patients who cannot or do not want to use injectable medicines.
NPA chair Olivier Picard described the approval as a significant moment and said it may help bring down the cost of treatment in the longer term.
However, he also warned of the growing black market in counterfeit weight loss treatments and said an oral formulation could make products potentially easier for criminals to fake.
He urged patients to obtain weight loss medication only when it has been properly prescribed and dispensed by a regulated pharmacy.
The approval follows the launch of the oral treatment in the United States earlier this year and marks the first time a GLP 1 weight loss medicine has been made available in tablet form for patients in the UK.