Novo Nordisk reported new Phase 3 OASIS 4 analyses at ECO2026 showing oral Wegovy® (semaglutide) achieved up to 21.6% weight loss in early responders and improved physical function in adults with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes.
Written By: Farha Farheen, PharmD
Reviewed By: Pharmacally Editorial Team
Novo Nordisk presented new analyses from the randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled Phase 3 OASIS 4 trial at the European Congress on Obesity 2026 (ECO2026), showing that oral Wegovy® (semaglutide 25 mg) delivered substantial weight loss and improvements in physical function among adults with obesity or overweight without type 2 diabetes.
The analyses build on the primary OASIS 4 (NCT05564117) findings, where once-daily oral semaglutide achieved an average 17% body weight reduction at week 64 compared with 2.7% for placebo.
One analysis evaluated “early responders,” a predictive subgroup defined as participants achieving at least 10% weight loss by week 16. Nearly one in three participants (28.8%) met this threshold and achieved 13.2% weight loss by week 16. By the end of the 64-week study, early responders achieved an average 21.6% reduction in body weight, while participants who did not meet the early-response threshold still achieved weight loss of 11.5%.
“It is important for patients and healthcare professionals to understand that there are differences in the early rapidity of weight loss following initiation of treatment with oral semaglutide 25 mg, and how this can signal the longer-term degree of weight loss that may be achieved,” said Prof. W. Timothy Garvey of the University of Alabama at Birmingham. He noted that the findings may help guide dose escalation, treatment expectations, and long-term goals.
A separate analysis showed that 77.3% of participants with poor baseline physical function achieved clinically meaningful improvements in physical function scores with oral semaglutide compared with 42.9% in the placebo group. The assessments evaluated measures including range of motion and stamina.
Novo Nordisk also presented comparative analyses against Eli Lilly’s investigational oral GLP-1 receptor agonist orforglipron. The ORION indirect treatment comparison, which was not a head-to-head study, showed greater mean weight loss with oral semaglutide, while orforglipron was associated with approximately 14-fold higher odds of treatment discontinuation due to gastrointestinal adverse events based on indirect comparison methodology.
In the OPTIC patient preference study, a discrete choice experiment, 84% of respondents favored a treatment profile similar to oral Wegovy® over orforglipron.
OASIS 4 evaluated oral semaglutide 25 mg in adults with obesity or overweight and at least one weight-related comorbidity, excluding type 2 diabetes. The safety profile remained consistent with the GLP-1 receptor agonist class, with mostly mild-to-moderate gastrointestinal adverse events that diminished over time.
Wegovy® pill is approved by the FDA as the first oral GLP-1 treatment for obesity in the United States, while regulatory review remains ongoing in Europe and other regions.
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About the Writer
Farha Farheen, PharmD (LinkedIn) is a pharmacy professional with a strong interest in pharmacovigilance and clinical research. She has completed her Doctor of Pharmacy (Pharm.D) along with her internship as a Clinical Pharmacist. She has hands-on experience in adverse drug reaction (ADR) reporting, safety data documentation, and pharmacovigilance workflows, and is proficient in using VigiFlow. She is also a patent holder for an antibacterial formulation enriched with bioactive substances, granted by the German Patent and Trademark Office.