We use cookies to understand how you use our site and to improve your experience.
This includes personalizing content and advertising.
By pressing "Accept All" or closing out of this banner, you consent to the use of all cookies and similar technologies and the sharing of information they collect with third parties.
You can reject marketing cookies by pressing "Deny Optional," but we still use essential, performance, and functional cookies.
In addition, whether you "Accept All," Deny Optional," click the X or otherwise continue to use the site, you accept our Privacy Policy and Terms of Service, revised from time to time.
You are being directed to ZacksTrade, a division of LBMZ Securities and licensed broker-dealer. ZacksTrade and Zacks.com are separate companies. The web link between the two companies is not a solicitation or offer to invest in a particular security or type of security. ZacksTrade does not endorse or adopt any particular investment strategy, any analyst opinion/rating/report or any approach to evaluating individual securities.
If you wish to go to ZacksTrade, click OK. If you do not, click Cancel.
On the first-quarter conference call, investors focused closely on early launch indicators for the new oral obesity drug. Lilly said the initial rollout of Foundayo has been encouraging, with favorable early feedback from payers, physicians and patients. The company noted that the drug became broadly available in pharmacies on April 9, expanded to more than 12 major telehealth platforms, and has already secured commercial coverage from two of the three largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers. A broader promotional push is expected later this year.
Management added that more than 8,000 healthcare providers have already prescribed Foundayo and roughly one-third of them had not previously prescribed an oral GLP-1 therapy, pointing to an expanding prescriber base. Lilly also said just over 20,000 patients have received the treatment so far, with about 80% of prescriptions coming from people new to the GLP-1 category. This suggests Foundayo is attracting new patients into obesity care rather than mainly converting existing users. The company further noted that around 45% of early Foundayo prescriptions have come through LillyDirect, highlighting solid early momentum in direct-to-consumer and digital channels.
As regards Foundayo’s international launch, Lilly expects to launch it in most international markets during 2027. For the type II diabetes indication, Lilly has filed regulatory applications in several countries, while it expects to file the same in the United States late in the second quarter of 2026. Recently released results from the ACHIEVE-4 study showed that Foundayo demonstrated a non-inferior risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in type II diabetes patients who carry elevated cardiovascular risk.
Overall, across seven phase III studies enrolling more than 11,000 patients, Foundayo has demonstrated a consistent safety and efficacy profile. In addition to obesity and type II diabetes, Lilly is also evaluating Foundayo in six phase III studies for other diabetes and obesity-related diseases, with data from some of these expected.
In all, Foundayo’s early launch suggests that Lilly has entered the oral obesity market with meaningful momentum. Strong early prescription trends, expanding payer access, and encouraging uptake among patients new to GLP-1 therapy position Foundayo as an important new growth driver.
Race to Make Oral Obesity Pill Intensifies
The global obesity drug market is projected to grow dramatically, reaching nearly $95 billion by 2030 and potentially $125 billion by 2035, according to Goldman Sachs estimates. Oral pills will be a more convenient alternative to the currently available once-weekly injectable obesity treatments like Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s (NVO - Free Report) Wegovy. Oral pills may significantly lower the treatment burden and potentially broaden patient adoption versus injections. Oral pills can also be manufactured at scale to meet global demand, which, in turn, can drive billions in additional sales.
Nordisk had gained approval for an oral version of its obesity drug, Wegovy, in December 2025 and launched the pill in January 2026, which gave it a first-mover advantage over Foundayo. However, Lilly may be able to close the gap quickly now that it has launched Foundayo. Also, Foundayo offers better patient convenience as it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. In contrast, NVO’s Wegovy pill has to be taken on an empty stomach, followed by a waiting period of 30 minutes before eating. However, in terms of side effects, Wegovy has a slight edge as it seems to have a more stable safety and tolerability profile than Foundayo, whose use is associated with some gastrointestinal side effects.
While Lilly and Novo Nordisk currently dominate this space, smaller biotechs like Structure Therapeutics (GPCR - Free Report) and Viking Therapeutics (VKTX - Free Report) are also developing oral GLP-1 drugs for treating obesity.
Viking Therapeutics’ dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Viking plans to advance oral VK2735 into phase III development for obesity in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Structure Therapeutics’ phase II ACCESS study on its orally GLP-1 RA, aleniglipron, demonstrated significant weight loss across all doses. Structure Therapeutics expects to initiate the late-stage program of aleniglipron in obesity in the second half of 2026.
LLY’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Lilly’s stock has declined 9.9% so far this year compared with the industry’s decrease of 3.1%.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
From a valuation standpoint, Lilly’s stock is expensive. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 26.64 forward earnings, higher than 16.94 for the industry. However, the stock is trading below its 5-year mean of 34.57.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 has declined from $33.50 to $33.39 per share over the past seven days, while that for 2027 has declined from $42.08 to $41.98 per share over the same timeframe.
View the Zacks #1 Rank List
Image: Bigstock
Lilly's Oral GLP-1 Pill Foundayo Starts Strong in Oral Obesity Market
Key Takeaways
Eli Lilly and Company (LLY - Free Report) gained the much-anticipated FDA approval for its once-daily oral GLP-1 pill, Foundayo (orforglipron), for treating obesity in early April. Foundayo shipments began soon after. Foundayo, which offers the benefits of GLP-1 therapy in a pill form, can prove to be a commercial game-changer for Lilly.
On the first-quarter conference call, investors focused closely on early launch indicators for the new oral obesity drug. Lilly said the initial rollout of Foundayo has been encouraging, with favorable early feedback from payers, physicians and patients. The company noted that the drug became broadly available in pharmacies on April 9, expanded to more than 12 major telehealth platforms, and has already secured commercial coverage from two of the three largest U.S. pharmacy benefit managers. A broader promotional push is expected later this year.
Management added that more than 8,000 healthcare providers have already prescribed Foundayo and roughly one-third of them had not previously prescribed an oral GLP-1 therapy, pointing to an expanding prescriber base. Lilly also said just over 20,000 patients have received the treatment so far, with about 80% of prescriptions coming from people new to the GLP-1 category. This suggests Foundayo is attracting new patients into obesity care rather than mainly converting existing users. The company further noted that around 45% of early Foundayo prescriptions have come through LillyDirect, highlighting solid early momentum in direct-to-consumer and digital channels.
As regards Foundayo’s international launch, Lilly expects to launch it in most international markets during 2027. For the type II diabetes indication, Lilly has filed regulatory applications in several countries, while it expects to file the same in the United States late in the second quarter of 2026. Recently released results from the ACHIEVE-4 study showed that Foundayo demonstrated a non-inferior risk of major adverse cardiovascular events in type II diabetes patients who carry elevated cardiovascular risk.
Overall, across seven phase III studies enrolling more than 11,000 patients, Foundayo has demonstrated a consistent safety and efficacy profile. In addition to obesity and type II diabetes, Lilly is also evaluating Foundayo in six phase III studies for other diabetes and obesity-related diseases, with data from some of these expected.
In all, Foundayo’s early launch suggests that Lilly has entered the oral obesity market with meaningful momentum. Strong early prescription trends, expanding payer access, and encouraging uptake among patients new to GLP-1 therapy position Foundayo as an important new growth driver.
Race to Make Oral Obesity Pill Intensifies
The global obesity drug market is projected to grow dramatically, reaching nearly $95 billion by 2030 and potentially $125 billion by 2035, according to Goldman Sachs estimates. Oral pills will be a more convenient alternative to the currently available once-weekly injectable obesity treatments like Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s (NVO - Free Report) Wegovy. Oral pills may significantly lower the treatment burden and potentially broaden patient adoption versus injections. Oral pills can also be manufactured at scale to meet global demand, which, in turn, can drive billions in additional sales.
Nordisk had gained approval for an oral version of its obesity drug, Wegovy, in December 2025 and launched the pill in January 2026, which gave it a first-mover advantage over Foundayo. However, Lilly may be able to close the gap quickly now that it has launched Foundayo. Also, Foundayo offers better patient convenience as it can be taken at any time of day, with or without food. In contrast, NVO’s Wegovy pill has to be taken on an empty stomach, followed by a waiting period of 30 minutes before eating. However, in terms of side effects, Wegovy has a slight edge as it seems to have a more stable safety and tolerability profile than Foundayo, whose use is associated with some gastrointestinal side effects.
While Lilly and Novo Nordisk currently dominate this space, smaller biotechs like Structure Therapeutics (GPCR - Free Report) and Viking Therapeutics (VKTX - Free Report) are also developing oral GLP-1 drugs for treating obesity.
Viking Therapeutics’ dual GIPR/GLP-1 receptor agonist, VK2735, is being developed both as oral and subcutaneous formulations for the treatment of obesity. Viking plans to advance oral VK2735 into phase III development for obesity in the fourth quarter of 2026.
Structure Therapeutics’ phase II ACCESS study on its orally GLP-1 RA, aleniglipron, demonstrated significant weight loss across all doses. Structure Therapeutics expects to initiate the late-stage program of aleniglipron in obesity in the second half of 2026.
LLY’s Price Performance, Valuation and Estimates
Lilly’s stock has declined 9.9% so far this year compared with the industry’s decrease of 3.1%.
From a valuation standpoint, Lilly’s stock is expensive. Going by the price/earnings ratio, the company’s shares currently trade at 26.64 forward earnings, higher than 16.94 for the industry. However, the stock is trading below its 5-year mean of 34.57.
The Zacks Consensus Estimate for 2026 has declined from $33.50 to $33.39 per share over the past seven days, while that for 2027 has declined from $42.08 to $41.98 per share over the same timeframe.
Lilly has a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.