Novo Nordisk Gets US Approval for Wegovy Obesity Pill

Novo Nordisk won approval to sell a pill version of its blockbuster obesity shot Wegovy in the US, a crucial step in its effort to defend its market share from rival Eli Lilly & Co.

Novo will start selling the pill in the US in early January, the company said in a statement Monday. It is approved to help people lose weight or maintain previous weight loss over the long term.

The shares soared by as much as 11% in Copenhagen, the biggest intraday gain since August. Novo has fallen by almost half this year amid concern about the Danish drugmaker’s ability to compete in the obesity market it pioneered.

“This is going to be super exciting for the millions of patients that have been waiting to get their hands on a GLP-1 pill,” Chief Executive Officer Mike Doustdar said in an interview with Bloomberg Television. “We’re going to go all in to make this a huge success.”  The pill is crucial for Novo’s strategy to take on Lilly, which has said its own oral obesity drug could be approved by March. That would give Novo a head start of just a few months. Bloomberg's John Tozzi reports.

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