Novo Nordisk has begun a late-stage trial testing lower doses of its oral Wegovy pill.
The placebo-controlled trial, called OASIS 5, began enrolling patients Aug. 12 and will compare two undisclosed lower doses of oral semaglutide with placebo in about 450 adults with obesity or overweight across 62 sites in the U.S. and Europe. The primary goal is to measure the percent change in body weight after 60 weeks, with researchers also tracking how many participants lose at least 5%, 10% or 15% of their starting weight. The trial is expected to run through April 2028.
The Wegovy pill’s currently approved maintenance dose is 25 milligrams once daily, reached after a 91-day dose-escalation period that begins at 1.5 milligrams. Novo Nordisk said it is studying lower maintenance doses to better reflect real-world patient needs and give physicians more flexibility in treatment, as not all patients can tolerate the current highest dose.
The FDA approved the Wegovy pill in December 2025, making it the first oral GLP-1 medication approved for weight management. The approval was based on the OASIS 4 trial, in which adherent participants lost an average of 16.6% of their body weight. Novo Nordisk has continued to expand its GLP-1 portfolio since then, including with the FDA’s March approval of a higher-dose, 7.2-milligram injectable Wegovy formulation, which produced an average weight loss of 20.7% in a clinical trial.
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