What is Foundayo?

No. Both are once-daily weight-loss tablets, but they contain different medicines. The Wegovy pill is semaglutide — a peptide that the gut would digest, so the tablet includes an absorption helper and must be taken on an empty stomach with a small sip of water and a 30-minute wait. Foundayo is orforglipron, a small molecule that is not a peptide, so it is absorbed like an ordinary tablet and can be taken at any time, with or without food.

They also come from different manufacturers (Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly) and different trials. On the trial figures the Wegovy pill produced more weight loss (about 13.6% over 64 weeks against about 11.2% for Foundayo over 72 weeks), but the two have not been compared directly.

In the main trial (ATTAIN-1: 3,127 adults with obesity or overweight and no diabetes, over 72 weeks), the average loss was 7.8% of body weight at 5.5 mg, 9.3% at 9 mg and 12.4% at 17.2 mg, against 0.9% on placebo. Counting everyone who started, including people who stopped early, the top dose averaged 11.2% against 2.1%. About 60% of people on 17.2 mg lost at least 10% of their body weight, and about 40% lost at least 15%.

In people with type 2 diabetes (ATTAIN-2) the losses were smaller — 5.5%, 7.8% and 10.5% against 2.2% on placebo — which is the usual pattern with GLP-1 medicines. These are averages; some people lose much more, some much less, and some do not respond.

No. Unlike the Wegovy pill, Foundayo can be taken at any time of day, with or without food, and there is no limit on what you drink with it. Swallow the tablet whole — do not crush or chew it. Try to take it at roughly the same time each day so it becomes routine.

If you miss a dose, take it as soon as you remember on the same day. If the day has passed, skip it and take the next one as normal; never take two tablets in one day to catch up.

The trials used capsules, and the licensed product is a tablet, so the numbers do not match one-to-one. The UK product information maps them: the 0.8, 2.5, 5.5, 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg tablets correspond to the 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 mg capsules used in the trials. The three obesity-trial doses (6, 12 and 36 mg capsules) are the 5.5, 9 and 17.2 mg tablets — which is why those are the strengths with weight-loss figures attached.

The 14.5 mg tablet was not a randomised arm in any of the pivotal trials. It sits in the licence as an intermediate step between 9 and 17.2 mg, so there is no trial average to quote for it.

Mostly gut-related, as with every GLP-1 medicine. Very common (more than 1 in 10): nausea, constipation, diarrhoea, vomiting, indigestion and abdominal pain, and low blood sugar if you also take basal insulin. Common (up to 1 in 10): dizziness, headache, a faster pulse, low blood pressure, bloating, belching, reflux, wind, gallstones (1.3% against 0.6% on placebo), temporary hair loss (3.7% against 1.8%), fatigue, raised pancreatic enzymes, and low blood sugar with a sulfonylurea. Acute pancreatitis was uncommon. In the trials, around 60–69% of people had some gut side effect (against 36% on placebo), and 3.7–6.8% stopped because of them (against 0.6%). Resting pulse was about 4–5 beats a minute higher at 72 weeks.

Rarer problems reported with this class of medicine include sudden vision loss (NAION), a blocked bowel or severe constipation, severe allergic reactions, kidney injury from dehydration, and stomach contents entering the lungs during anaesthesia — tell any anaesthetist you are taking it. Foundayo is a black-triangle medicine under additional monitoring, so please report any suspected side effect through the MHRA Yellow Card scheme.

Yes, more than the injections do, because it is cleared by the liver enzyme CYP3A4. Strong blockers of that enzyme — clarithromycin, ketoconazole, itraconazole — raise Foundayo levels, so the dose is capped at 9 mg while you take them; ritonavir should be avoided. Strong inducers — rifampicin, phenytoin, carbamazepine and St John’s wort — lower its levels and should be avoided. Ciclosporin also caps the dose at 9 mg. Foundayo raises levels of some statins: the simvastatin dose is halved, and rosuvastatin above 20 mg needs care. Insulin and sulfonylurea doses may need reducing to avoid low blood sugar. Proton-pump inhibitors (omeprazole and similar) and metformin need no change.

Because it slows stomach emptying, it can affect how other tablets are absorbed; the UK product information gives no specific rule for levothyroxine, but prescribers may monitor. Oral contraceptives may be less effective — use a barrier method for 30 days after starting and for 30 days after each dose increase. Always give the prescriber a full list of what you take.

Not at the moment. Since 24 August 2026 it has been available only through private prescribers. NICE is appraising it for the NHS (appraisal ID6516) with a decision expected on 18 November 2026; even a positive decision would then need to be rolled out, so private supply is the realistic route for now.

Privately, the usual thresholds apply: a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related condition such as high blood pressure, type 2 diabetes or sleep apnoea. Meeting the threshold does not mean you must take it — it is one option to discuss, and a qualified prescriber decides whether it is appropriate after a consultation.

Eli Lilly has not published a UK list price. Reuters reported that the company expects a price of roughly £100–£120 a month, but that is a reported expectation, not a confirmed figure. Private pharmacies set their own prices, and they vary widely by strength — our Foundayo price comparison shows today's verified figure at every regulated provider, with consultation and delivery charges noted where they apply.

Because the dose steps up over the first months and each strength is priced differently, the first month’s price is not what you will pay long term. Our Foundayo comparison page lists verified prices at every strength from regulated UK pharmacies, re-checked against each pharmacy’s own website.