Novo announced new real-world data from the Octane study showing that adults with overweight or obesity who switched from an injectable GLP-1 medicine to once-daily oral semaglutide, sold as the Wegovy pill, lost an average of 4.1% of their body weight, or 8.8 lbs, after three months on treatment.¹

The analysis drew on de-identified data from the Ro telehealth platform, representing the first study to come out of a previously announced collaboration between Ro and Novo examining real-world outcomes among people taking weight-loss medications.¹ It is among the first real-world evidence describing weight loss and other patient experience outcomes in people who switched from an injectable weight-loss therapy to oral semaglutide.

Octane was presented during a short oral session at the 62nd Annual Meeting of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes in Milan, Italy, on September 30, 2026.²

What did the Octane study find?

Beyond the average weight loss, the study also tracked how many participants remained classified as living with obesity, defined as a body mass index of 30 kg/m² or higher.² That proportion fell from 87.1% at baseline to 65.5% at the three-month mark, meaning a substantial share of participants moved below the clinical obesity threshold within the first three months of taking the pill.²

"We innovate to meet people with obesity where they are. Some people may choose to switch from injectable to pill — whether that is because of needle anxiety, lifestyle, or simply personal preference," said Martin Holst Lange, executive vice president, head of research & development, and chief scientific officer at Novo. "The Octane data give us a unique and encouraging early look at what happened in a real-world analysis where patients switched from injectable therapies. After switching, patients experienced significant weight loss and reported treatment satisfaction and lifestyle improvements. That combination of results is promising for future research."

How was the study designed?

Octane was a retrospective cohort analysis evaluating weight change, treatment adherence, and patient satisfaction three months after patients switched from injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide to oral semaglutide for weight management.² Participants of the study were adults with obesity or overweight who had at least one obesity-related complication and were enrolled in the Ro telehealth platform, which integrates electronic health records, patient-reported data, and pharmacy records.

The study drew a random sample of adults with a BMI of 27 to 29.9 kg/m² who had at least one obesity-related complication such as, hypertension, dyslipidemia, obstructive sleep apnea, or cardiovascular disease, and no history of diabetes or bariatric surgery.²

Patients in the cohort switched from injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide to oral semaglutide between January 5, 2026, and February 7, 2026. They did not need to have taken the injectable medication for any set period of time or to have lost weight on it beforehand to be included. To be counted in the analysis, patients had to stay on oral semaglutide for the full three-month follow-up period without a gap of more than 30 days, and had to self-report their baseline weight within 30 days of starting and their weight at three months, within a 15-day window on either side.

The final sample included 194 patients with a mean baseline weight of 100.5 kg (221.6 lbs) and a mean BMI of 34.5 kg/m².² On average, patients had been enrolled on the Ro platform for 5.2 months before starting oral semaglutide, and 36.8 days had passed between their last injectable prescription and starting the pill.

Louis J. Aronne, MD, director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Center at Weill Cornell Medicine and a co-author of the study, said the findings reflect a pattern seen in clinical practice. "In everyday clinical practice, we see patients who respond well to injectable GLP-1 based therapy but who, for personal or practical reasons, want to try an oral option," Aronne said. "What the Octane data showed is that a switch to oral semaglutide may be a viable path for the right patient, with real weight loss and lifestyle improvements in the first three months. It also showed that oral semaglutide helped many participants achieve a BMI under the clinical threshold of obesity. These are exciting early insights on how the pill can individualize obesity care, and we look forward to seeing longer-term outcomes."

Sources

1. People switching from weight-loss injections to Novo's Wegovy® pill lost 4.1% body weight on average after three months, according to real-world data presented at EASD2026 Novo September 30, 2026, https://www.novonordisk.com/content/nncorp/global/en/news-and-media/news-and-ir-materials/news-details.html?id=917136
2. 3-month real-world weight outcomes among patients with overweight or obesity after switching from injectable semaglutide or tirzepatide to oral semaglutide for weight management: the OCTANE study. Late-breaking abstract LBA 59. European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) Annual Meeting 2026. Smith BJ, Divino V, Morgen CS, September 30, 2026, https://www.easd.org/media-centre/