Novo Nordisk starts Wegovy pill distribution in Mexico

Novo Nordisk is starting distribution of Wegovy tablets, its once-daily oral semaglutide for weight management, in Mexico on Nov. 11, 2026, according to two Mexican business outlets that covered a company media briefing on Nov. 10. Expansión reported that the company expects to reach nearly 10,000 points of sale over the following weeks through the major private pharmacy chains; NovusNews described the same target and a gradual expansion.

Novo Nordisk Mexico says the product, which it labels “semaglutida oral 25 mg,” won approval from the Federal Commission for the Protection against Sanitary Risks (COFEPRIS) in August. In a release dated Aug. 17, 2026, the company said that made Mexico the first country in Latin America to authorize the medicine. That claim is Novo’s; Expansión and NovusNews repeat it. The release does not state a separate approval day, so Amino Wire uses the release date only as the announcement date.

What COFEPRIS approved

According to Novo’s release, the Mexican indication covers reducing excess body weight and maintaining that reduction long term in adults with obesity, or in adults with overweight and at least one weight-related comorbid condition. The release also lists a second indication: reducing the risk of major adverse cardiovascular events (cardiovascular death, nonfatal heart attack or nonfatal stroke) in adults with established cardiovascular disease and obesity or overweight. NovusNews summarized that second part as covering certain patients with established cardiovascular disease; Expansión mentioned only the weight indication.

The release says the tablet is taken once a day on an empty stomach. Both outlets stressed that it is a prescription medicine. Expansión quoted medical director Mike Alonso Vivas Rubio (Mike Vivas in Novo’s release) as saying it should be used under medical supervision, and NovusNews said treatment requires a prescription and medical follow-up.

Novo had said in August that it expected the tablets to reach pharmacies across Mexico “durante los próximos trimestres” (in the coming quarters, in Amino Wire’s translation). The release also said the Mexican approval followed launches in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and the United Kingdom.

The trial numbers, and which estimand they are

The pivotal trial is OASIS 4, published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2025. Its PubMed abstract reports 205 participants assigned to oral semaglutide and 102 to placebo, in a 2:1 ratio, all without diabetes and all given lifestyle interventions. The estimated mean change in body weight from baseline to week 64 was -13.6% with oral semaglutide and -2.2% with placebo, an estimated difference of -11.4 percentage points (95% CI, -13.9 to -9.0). The abstract does not name the estimand; NovusNews described the 13.6% figure as the one that accounts for treatment interruptions and other factors, which matches a treatment-policy approach.

NovusNews also reported an average reduction of 16.6% at 64 weeks “bajo el supuesto de continuidad del tratamiento” (under the assumption of continued treatment, in Amino Wire’s translation). That figure does not appear in the PubMed abstract, so it is attributed to NovusNews. Novo’s own release rounds the result to about 17% and says 1 in 3 participants lost 20% or more. Those are company characterizations, not the abstract’s primary result.

On safety, the abstract reports gastrointestinal adverse events in 74.0% of the oral semaglutide group versus 42.2% with placebo. Expansión reported that Vivas said nausea and vomiting are the most frequent side effects, are usually mild or moderate, and tend to ease between the fourth and eighth week. The company also said nine of 10 patients tolerate and stay on treatment, Expansión wrote, while noting that does not mean the drug is free of side effects. NovusNews quoted associate medical director Angélica Navarro as saying the tablets do not need a cold chain.

Market size, price and public access

Expansión reported that Patricia Field, general manager of Novo Nordisk Mexico, said three in four Mexican adults live with overweight or obesity and put the company’s potential market at about 7.5 million patients, of whom fewer than 1% receive treatment. At the briefing she said: “Para México es todavía más preocupante, porque de cada cuatro adultos, tres tienen sobrepeso u obesidad.” In Amino Wire’s translation: for Mexico it is even more worrying, because three of every four adults have overweight or obesity. NovusNews cited a national survey, ENSANUT Continua 2020-2024, putting the share at 74.9%. Novo’s August release referred to more than 70 million adults in Mexico living with overweight or obesity.

Field said the price will depend on the dose and on each point of sale but would be competitive and close to the injectable presentation, according to Expansión. She also said the company is in talks with the Mexican government to widen access, noting that Novo’s diabetes medicines are already in the public system. Her words, as Expansión reported them: “Trabajamos de cerca con los diferentes socios comerciales que tenemos, eso incluye el gobierno para que cada vez más pacientes tengan acceso al medicamento.” In Amino Wire’s translation: we work closely with our different commercial partners, and that includes the government, so that more and more patients can get the medicine.

Because Novo Nordisk is a publicly traded company, Field said she could not share future patient targets, Expansión reported, though she said the unit aims to “llegar al mayor número posible” of people (reach as many as possible, in translation). Expansión also cited NielsenIQ data showing pharmacies account for 98% of GLP-1 medicine sales in Mexico, with unit demand up 130%.

What is still unknown

No retail price has been published, and Novo has not said what the tablets will cost at pharmacies. The outlets gave no firm date for reaching the full network of points of sale, and Field described public-sector access as still under discussion with the government. Novo’s global third-quarter results, which included Wegovy pill sales, are covered in Amino Wire’s earlier earnings story.

Quotations from Spanish-language sources are given in the original, followed by Amino Wire’s translation into English.