UK Approves Eli Lilly's Foundayo Weight-Loss Pill
Get the Health newsletter
Daily health & science — research, biotech, public health, the studies worth knowing. Free.
- Foundayo, Eli Lilly's daily weight-loss pill, was approved by the MHRA for treating obesity and type 2 diabetes, making the UK the first European country to greenlight it.
- The pill is available privately with a prescription, but MHRA approval does not automatically put it on the NHS — though Eli Lilly said it can be used immediately on the NHS for type 2 diabetes while it applies to NICE for weight-loss recommendation.
- Dr Simon Cork of Anglia Ruskin University said weight-loss benefits were less than other treatments but patients could expect "significant, clinically meaningful" changes, and noted the pill is likely cheaper than existing weight-loss options, which the NHS has tended to tightly restrict.
- Prof Naveed Sattar of the University of Glasgow flagged convenience as a key advantage — unlike the Wegovy pill, which must be taken on an empty stomach, Foundayo can be taken at any time of day.
- Trials showed patients who came off weight-loss jabs and then took Foundayo daily for a year avoided regaining much of the weight they had lost, addressing a known risk when stopping GLP-1 injections.
- Side effects of Foundayo include nausea, diarrhoea, constipation and vomiting.
Why it matters: NHS-eligible type 2 diabetes patients can be prescribed Foundayo immediately, expanding GLP-1 access without injections, while the likely-cheaper oral option could reshape prescribing economics if NICE backs its weight-loss use — the NHS has historically tightly restricted these treatments on cost grounds.
Ask SkimNews
