Wegovy is set to become available in pill form across Australia, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted approval for eligible patients.<\/p>\n
In a statement, manufacturer Novo Nordisk said they were \u201cworking to bring the new treatment option\u201d to eligible Australians later in the year, while promising to share future updates.<\/p>\n
Novo submitted an application to sell GLP-1 pills with the TGA earlier this year, following approval that was granted in the US and UK.<\/p>\n
Currently, Wegovy and other similar drugs such as Ozempic and Mounjaro are only available as an injectable in Australia.<\/p>\n
A Department of Health spokesman said the TGA approved the registration of a Wegovy oral tablet in 1.5mg, 4mg, 9mg and 25mg strengths.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe indications are consistent with those approved for the injectable formulation of Wegovy,\u201d a spokesman said.<\/p>\n
GP Wes Abujalala said overseas patients already had access to oral GLP-1 tablets.<\/p>\n
Dr Abujalala said an oral GLP-1 was a tablet version of the same hormone that mimicked medicines currently available as weekly injectables.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt slows stomach emptying, reduces appetite, and signals fullness to the brain, working the same way as the injectable form,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cNovo Nordisk\u2019s oral semaglutide tablet uses an absorption enhancer called SNAC, which protects the active ingredient long enough for a small amount to cross the stomach lining.\u201d <\/p>\n
Dr Abujalala said the Wegovy pill had to be taken once a day and came with a routine that must be followed precisely for it to work, because stomach acid destroyed most of the dose.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a small fraction of each tablet is actually absorbed,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Users are required to take the tablet first thing in the morning on an empty stomach, swallowed with half a cup of water and wait at least 30 minutes before consuming anything else.<\/p>\n
\u201cMissing this window, or drinking too much water with the tablet, can reduce how much medicine the body absorbs,\u201d Dr Abujalala said.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor patients with unpredictable mornings, shift work, or young children to manage before breakfast, a weekly injection may actually be the more forgiving option.\u201d<\/p>\n
It is not clear when the drug will be available in Australia, but it is expected sometime before Christmas.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Wegovy is set to become available in pill form across Australia, after the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) granted…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":952128,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[519027,519032,519033,519034,430511,519022,380597,519035,504120,505691,390571,376769,519051,519057,519059,2687,519052,450731,519037,519025,519021,414604,24232,74752,519023,63,519036,42341,1887,5503,519049,519029,519053,376920,519024,187466,89663,519017,519047,519045,519056,519044,43,519014,519016,519015,519041,519050,10559,44,187436,5889,519038,519019,519063,519042,519039,10557,519058,34567,519028,55273,389656,40235,502362,245970,283916,499411,411352,519054,519020,519062,519060,378354,519031,411393,519043,379009,519018,519055,411388,441718,519046,519061,378969,519030,519064,41,39,42,40,519048,11814,519026,519040,20165,13157,221746,114229],"class_list":["post-952127","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-s-oral-semaglutide-tablet","tag-1-5mg","tag-4mg","tag-9mg-and-25mg-strengths","tag-a-catch","tag-a-daily-pill","tag-a-day","tag-a-glp-1-drug","tag-a-routine","tag-a-small-amount","tag-a-spokesman","tag-a-statement","tag-a-tablet-version","tag-a-weekly-injection","tag-a-wegovy-oral-tablet","tag-access","tag-an-absorption-enhancer","tag-an-application","tag-an-empty-stomach","tag-an-injectable","tag-an-oral-glp-1","tag-anything-else","tag-appetite","tag-approval","tag-at-least-30-minutes","tag-australia","tag-australia-a-department","tag-bombshell-decision","tag-breakfast","tag-christmas","tag-daily-wegovy-weight-loss-pill","tag-dr-abujalala","tag-each-tablet","tag-earlier-this-year","tag-eligible-australians","tag-eligible-patients","tag-first-thing","tag-fullness","tag-future-updates-novo","tag-glp-1-pills","tag-gp-wes-abujalala","tag-half-a-cup","tag-headlines","tag-health-spokesman","tag-how-much-medicine","tag-its-biggest-regulatory-hurdle","tag-key-tga-decision","tag-manufacturer-novo-nordisk","tag-medicines","tag-news","tag-newswire-news","tag-novo-nordisk","tag-only-a-small-fraction","tag-oral-glp-1-tablets-dr-abujalala","tag-other-similar-drugs","tag-overseas-patients","tag-ozempic-and-mounjaro","tag-patients","tag-pill-form","tag-shift-work","tag-snac","tag-stomach-acid","tag-stomach-emptying","tag-tga","tag-the-active-ingredient","tag-the-body","tag-the-brain","tag-the-dose","tag-the-drug","tag-the-indications","tag-the-injectable-form","tag-the-injectable-formulation","tag-the-more-forgiving-option","tag-the-morning","tag-the-new-treatment-option","tag-the-registration","tag-the-same-hormone","tag-the-same-way","tag-the-stomach-lining","tag-the-tablet","tag-the-tga","tag-the-therapeutic-goods-administration","tag-the-us-and-uk-currently","tag-the-wegovy-pill","tag-the-year","tag-this-window","tag-too-much-water","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-unpredictable-mornings","tag-water","tag-weekly-injectables","tag-weekly-injections","tag-wegovy","tag-weight-loss-drug","tag-weight-loss-pill","tag-young-children"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952127","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=952127"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/952127\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/952128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=952127"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=952127"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=952127"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}