An Oral Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Agonist for Glycemic Control and Weight Loss

Among once-weekly injectable glucagon-like peptide-1 (GLP-1) receptor agonists, semaglutide (Ozempic) is more effective than exenatide (Byetta) and dulaglutide (Trulicity) for glycemic control and weight loss; it also prevents some adverse cardiovascular (CV) events in patients with established CV disease. But is oral semaglutide — not yet FDA-approved — as effective for glycemic control and weight loss as an injected GLP-1 inhibitor?

In this manufacturer-sponsored trial, investigators enrolled 711 patients with glycosylated hemoglobin (HbA_1c) levels of 7.0% to 9.5% who were taking metformin with or without a sodium–glucose cotransporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitor. Patients were randomized to receive oral semaglutide, subcutaneous liraglutide (Vict…