The US drug regulator approved a daily pill version of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy injection, giving the Danish drugmaker a head start as the first to market in the next big competitive frontier in weight-loss treatments.

The company said it is manufacturing the drug and expects to be ready for a full launch in early January. Rival Eli Lilly is also expected to soon receive regulatory approval from the Food and Drug Administration for its pill version of popular injectable Zepbound, after announcing positive results from its latest trial last week.

Dave Moore, executive vice-president of US operations at Novo Nordisk, said: “We are confident that the expansion of Wegovy to a pill will help patients who may have not sought or accepted treatment before.”