Eli Lilly has received its first approval to sell its weight-loss drug Foundayo outside the U.S., with the U.K.'s Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency granting permission for its use in weight management and type 2 diabetes on prescription [1]. This approval positions Foundayo as only the second GLP-1 weight-loss pill in the European market, following Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill, which launched in the U.K. two months prior [1]. Both drugs are now set to compete for market share in Europe, with Foundayo needing to be evaluated for cost-effectiveness by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) before it can be made available through the National Health Service [1].
Novo Nordisk has leveraged its early entry into the oral weight-loss space to market Wegovy as the most effective oral option for weight loss, while Eli Lilly emphasizes that Foundayo, as a small molecule medicine, can be taken without food restrictions—a contrast to Wegovy, which must be taken first thing in the morning with no food or drink for at least 30 minutes [1]. Despite this, Foundayo has experienced significantly slower uptake in the U.S. compared to Wegovy, with Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks attributing this to Foundayo being a completely new medicine that requires time to gain acceptance among doctors and patients [1]. In the U.S., Foundayo launched in April and generated $98 million in sales for the second quarter [1].
Both companies assert that weight-loss pills are expanding the market, rather than simply attracting users who previously relied on injectable treatments [1]. Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar stated, "I could see a future where actually this market is, to a large extent, a pill market," while noting it is still early days for the Wegovy pill [1]. He also addressed concerns about slowing momentum, as oral Wegovy sales in the second quarter were slightly below some analyst forecasts [1]. In the first three weeks of Wegovy's availability in the U.K., approximately 300,000 patients were estimated to have started taking the pill [1].
CONCLUSION
Eli Lilly's Foundayo approval in the U.K. marks a significant escalation in the European weight-loss pill market, directly challenging Novo Nordisk's Wegovy. Both companies are optimistic about the market's growth potential, with early U.K. uptake for Wegovy indicating strong demand. The competitive landscape is expected to evolve rapidly as cost-effectiveness evaluations and broader access unfold.