Eli Lilly has won its first approval to sell its weight-loss drug Foundayo in Europe, allowing it to compete with rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill in the UK.
The UK’s Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency said Monday that orforglipron, sold as Foundayo, will be available for weight management and type 2 diabetes on prescription. It marks only the second GLP-1 weight-loss pill in the European market and comes just two months after Novo launched its Wegovy pill there.
Foundayo launched in the US in April and generated $98 million in sales for the second quarter.
The Competitive Edge
Lilly has sought to emphasize that Foundayo can, as a small molecule medicine, be taken without any food restrictions. Wegovy must be taken first thing in the morning with a sip of water and no other food or drink for at least 30 minutes.
Novo has used its months-long lead in the oral weight-loss space to position Wegovy pill in the market as the most effective oral option for losing weight.
UK Availability
As with all new treatments, Wegovy pill will need to be evaluated for cost-effectiveness by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence to be available through the UK’s National Health Service. Initially, it will be available privately by prescription.
Novo CEO Mike Doustdar told CNBC this month that in the first three weeks the Wegovy pill was available in the UK, around 300,000 patients were estimated to have started taking the pill.
The Market Outlook
Both companies say that weight-loss pills are expanding the market, rather than being bought only by people who had already used the more expensive injectables.
“I could see a future where actually this market is, to a large extent, a pill market,” Doustdar told CNBC this month, while stressing it was still early days for Wegovy pill.
He pushed back on concerns that momentum was slowing after oral Wegovy sales came in slightly below some analyst forecasts in the second quarter.
The Bottom Line
Eli Lilly’s Foundayo weight-loss pill has won UK approval, marking its first European approval and making it only the second GLP-1 weight-loss pill in the European market. Foundayo can be taken without food restrictions, unlike Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill, which requires a 30-minute fasting period. The pill will initially be available privately by prescription, with NHS access pending a cost-effectiveness review.
