FDA cleared Foundayo eight days ago, and Eli Lilly was ready: the company pre-stocked $1.5 billion worth of the pill back in February, months before approval landed.
That preparation reflects a direct chase. Novo Nordisk’s oral Wegovy hit market in early January, and it took off fast: more than 3,000 patients in its first week, then a 500% jump the following week, per a Jan. 23 BMO Capital Markets note. It outpaced even the launch of Lilly’s injectable Zepbound, which pulled some 1,300 new prescriptions in its launch week in December 2023.
The efficacy numbers don’t favor Lilly. Oral Wegovy achieved 16.6% weight loss at 72 weeks in Phase 3. Foundayo hit 11.2%. No head-to-head trial between the two pills exists. In the injectable race, Lilly had the advantage: Zepbound helped patients lose 47% more weight than injectable Wegovy.
Lilly’s pill has practical advantages. Foundayo can be taken with or without food; oral Wegovy requires an empty stomach. Foundayo is also a small molecule while oral Wegovy is a peptide, which is typically harder to manufacture. Price won’t separate them: both start at $149 on self-pay, as low as $25 through insurance.
The new patient question matters most. A February Truveta report found 36.1% of the first 8,762 patients who filled an oral Wegovy prescription had never taken a GLP-1 before.
Novo reports Q1 oral Wegovy revenue during first-quarter earnings, the last quarter it holds a solo run in the oral obesity market.
Sarah Chen