FDA Gives New GLP-1 Option the Thumbs Up

A new entrant just muscled into the booming weight-loss drug market—and it's another pill. The FDA on Wednesday cleared Eli Lilly's Foundayo, a once-daily oral GLP-1 medication. It's the second such pill to debut recently, with Novo Nordisk's Wegovy tablet having gotten the thumbs up in December. Foundayo comes in six dose levels, giving patients the option of gradually scaling up to limit side effects. Unlike Wegovy, which must be taken after waking on an empty stomach, Foundayo can be taken at any time of day with no food limitations, reports NBC News.

Lilly says cash-paying patients will see prices of $149 a month for the lowest dose and up to $399 for the highest. In a late-stage trial, people on Foundayo's highest dose lost an average of 12.4% of their body weight after 72 weeks—roughly on par with Wegovy's pill but below injectable versions of Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound. "Twelve percent is weak compared to what you're going to see with Wegovy and Zepbound," said Harvard endocrinologist Dr. Jody Dushay. Still, CNN reports Wall Street firm Mizuho estimates 400,000 people are using Novo Nordisk's pill in the US.