Obesity Pills 2026: Novo Nordisk & Eli Lilly Lead the Way
The booming GLP-1 space was built on weekly injections. In 2026, new obesity pills will push the market into its next chapter.
Patients are already getting their hands on the first GLP-1 pill for obesity from Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk — a once-daily drug that shares the same brand name as its popular injection Wegovy. A GLP-1 pill from the company’s chief rival Eli Lilly isn’t far behind, wiht a U.S.approval expected within months.
For some people, pills may serve as a more convenient — and perhaps cheaper — alternative to today’s blockbuster injections. The cash prices of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill range from $149 to $299 per month, depending on the dose, which is slightly less than the newly lowered cash prices of injections.
While the pills aren’t expected to bring more weight loss than weekly shots, based on separate clinical trials, some health experts say expanding the range of treatments could still be a major win for patients.
Pills could attract new patients to seek obesity treatment for the first time, expanding the broader weight loss and diabetes drug market and potentially boosting sales for Novo Nordisk and Eli lilly. the new users may include people who are afraid of needles, and also patients who could benefit from existing injections but don’t view their condition as severe enough to warrant a weekly shot.
“I think that there are a lot of people out there who have never tried these GLP-1 drugs and are maybe waiting for the pills to come out,” said Dr. Eduardo Grunvald, medical director of the UC San Diego Health Center for Advanced Weight Management. “It’s kind of a natural preference for some people and even some prescribers.”
“Secondly,if you have to pay out of pocket,the pills are going to be a bit less expensive than the injections,so that’s another reason,” he said.
The logo of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is displayed in front of its offices in Bagsvaerd, on the outskirts of Copenhagen, Denmark, Nov. 24,2025.
Tom Little | Reuters
It’s unclear exactly how many people are currently using GLP-1s in the U.S., especially for obesity. But around 1 in 8 adults said they were taking a GLP-1 drug to lose weight or treat another chronic condition as of November, according to a poll from health policy research association KFF.
Now, pills are emerging as the next battleground for Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, which established the GLP-1 space that some analysts say could be worth almost $100 billion by the 2030s. In August, Goldman Sachs analysts forecast that pills could capture roughly 24% — or about $22 billion — of the global weight-loss drug market by 2030.
Here’s how obesity pills could reshape the space.
Pills could expand the market
Oral drugs may pull new patients into the obesity treatment market.
“I believe that this will quite a bit expand the market,” Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar told CNBC in late December. “We certainly know from our own family members and circles of friends that there are many people who still would not rather take an injection … for this group of people, having a pill option is important.”
Pills could prompt some people to start obesity treatment because “they think it’s somehow more acceptable or approachable” than an injection, said Dr. caroline Apovian, co-director of the Center for Weight management and Wellness at Brigham and Women’s hospital.
That doesn’t mean a pill will be the best fit for everyone. but once patients enter the health-care system for treatment,doctors can guide them through all options - whether that’s an injection,metabolic surgery,or structured diet and exercise programs,Apovian said.
UCSD’s Grunvald said uptake of obesity pills is likely to be driven by primary care physicians, who treat the majority of eligible patients and may be more agreeable prescribing an oral drug.
Grunvald said obesity medicine specialists, who care for only about 5% to 10% of eligible patients, are more likely to continue favoring injections, which appear more effective than pills based on separate clinical trials.
Deborah,a 53-year-old librarian in St. Louis, Missouri, said she is curious about the new Wegovy pill in part because of its convenience factor. She declined to provide her last name due to concerns about stigma associated with GLP-1s.
Deborah said she would consider an oral GLP-1 because she is already accustomed to taking pills for other prescriptions. She said an oral drug would also bring other benefits, like making travel easier because it won’t require refrigeration, like injections do.
She said she is also interested in the potentially lower costs of pills. Deborah has been taking weekly injections of Wegovy since June, and was paying $449 per month in cash before Novo Nordisk lowered that price to $349 per month.
Pills cost slightly less
Cost could be a factor for other patients, too.
novo Nordisk’s pill appears to have among the lowest cash prices in the market, at $149 per month for the starting dose and $299 per month for the two highest doses. Eli Lilly’s rival pill is expected to have similar pricing for cash-paying patients.
Those users will also be able to access the starting dose of both pills for $149 per month through President Donald Trump‘s direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, under a deal both companies struck with his administration in November.
Obesity injections have long been hard for patients to get, due in part to spotty insurance coverage and list prices of roughly $1,000 per month. Both novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have moved to address those concerns by cutting cash prices for their injectable drugs to less than half that amount.
A combination image shows an injection pen of Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, and boxes of Wegovy, made by Novo Nordisk.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Eli Lilly in December said the highest doses of single-dose vials of Zepbound will cost $449 per month for cash-paying patients, while Novo Nordisk in November said nearly all doses of wegovy will cost $349 per month in cash.
Those prices are closer to the cost of Novo Nordisk’s pill, which may still be expensive for some. But Grunvald said the roughly $150 monthly difference between the highest doses of Zepbound and Novo’s pill “could be a big difference for many people” willing to pay out of pocket.
Patients wit
Analysts predict important growth for both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly in the weight-loss drug market this year.
Initial uptake is expected to favor Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, as Eli Lilly’s orforglipron is still several months from release. However, Risinger believes Eli Lilly’s pill will eventually outsell Wegovy due to its convenience.
Orforglipron is a small-molecule drug that’s absorbed more easily by the body and doesn’t have the dietary restrictions of Wegovy. Patients taking Wegovy must drink no more than four ounces of water and wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking.
Novo Nordisk CEO Doustdar argues these requirements won’t hinder adoption, pointing to the success of Rybelsus, a lower-dose version of the pill for diabetes, which launched in 2019. He says patients can “simply sip and go” and continue their normal routines.
Doustdar also claims Wegovy is the “most efficacious pill,” citing trial results showing an average weight loss of up to 16.6% at 64 weeks – comparable to the injectable version.
Eli Lilly’s orforglipron demonstrated an average weight loss of 12.4% at 72 weeks in a late-stage trial. Despite this difference,Risinger says both pills are seen as delivering similar weight-loss results,and many patients may not require the highest dose.
Goldman analysts forecast Eli Lilly’s pill will capture 60% of the daily oral market by 2030,representing roughly $13.6 billion in sales. They predict Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide will hold a 21% share ($4 billion), with the remaining 19% going to other emerging pills.
More competitors emerge
Other pharmaceutical companies are also developing oral weight-loss medications, including…