FDA grants speedy approval to Eli Lilly's weight-loss pill for obesity
[April 02, 2026]
By JONEL ALECCIA
Federal regulators on Wednesday approved Eli Lilly’s new weight-loss
pill, a second daily oral medication to treat obesity and other
weight-related conditions.
The Food and Drug Administration granted expedited approval to
orforglipron, a GLP-1 drug that works like widely used injectable
medications to mimic a natural hormone that controls appetite and
feelings of fullness.
The drug, which will be branded as Foundayo, is expected to begin
shipping Monday. The company said people with insurance may be able to
get the drug starting at $25 per month with a Lilly discount card.
Prices for people paying cash will range between $149 per month to $349
per month, depending on the dose.
The new pill joins drugmaker Novo Nordisk's oral Wegovy pill, which has
spurred more than 600,000 prescriptions in the United States since it
was approved in December.
The FDA authorized Eli Lilly's drug as part of a new program aimed at
cutting drug approval times. The agency said it reviewed the company's
application in 50 days.
In a clinical trial of more than 3,000 adults with obesity, participants
who received the highest dose of orforglipron, 36 milligrams, lost 11.2%
of their body weight –- about 25 pounds on average –- over more than 16
months. That compared with a 2.1% weight loss, or less than 5 pounds, in
patients who received a placebo, or dummy pill, according to the New
England Journal of Medicine.
Both the Lilly and Novo Nordisk pills resulted in less weight loss than
the average achieved with Lilly’s injectable Zepbound, which results in
a 21% average weight loss, or Novo Nordisk’s injectable Wegovy, which
averages about 15%.
Both once-daily pills promise convenience, but orforglipron is a
small-molecule GLP-1 drug that can be taken without restrictions. The
Wegovy pill, a peptide, must be taken with a sip of water in the morning
on an empty stomach, with a 30-minute wait before eating or drinking.
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This photo provided by Eli Lilly in April 2026 shows manufacturing
of the company's weight loss pill, Foundayo, at a plant in Carolina,
Puerto Rico. (Eli Lilly via AP)
 Users of orforglipron also saw
improvements in waist circumference, blood pressure, triglyceride
levels and cholesterol levels, the study found.
Side effects, mostly gastrointestinal issues, led between 5% and 10%
of participants in the orforglipron study to discontinue treatment,
compared with nearly 3% in the placebo group.
About 1 in 8 people in the U.S. have used injectable GLP-1 drugs,
according to a survey from KFF, a nonprofit health policy research
group. But many more have trouble affording the costly shots.
The pill from Indianapolis-based Lilly will be included in a Trump
administration deal to lower prices on GLP-1 drugs.
Shares of ELi Lilly and Company rose more than 4% in trading
Wednesday afternoon.
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AP Health Writer Matthew Perrone contributed to this report.
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