The UK's medicines regulator has given the green light to the daily pill Foundayo, designed for weight management and treating type 2 diabetes. Although available privately, its wider use through the NHS is not yet guaranteed.
Britain's medicines regulator, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), on Monday, August 10, 2026, approved Eli Lilly's pill Foundayo for weight management and treating type 2 diabetes. The United Kingdom thus became the first country in Europe to grant regulatory approval for this drug, reports Reuters.
Foundayo is a GLP-1 agonist that works by reducing appetite. It is taken daily, and its key advantage over some similar preparations is convenience. Professor Naveed Sattar, an expert at the University of Glasgow, highlighted that, unlike the pill version of Wegovy, which must be taken on an empty stomach, Foundayo can be consumed at any time of day.
This approval came just a few months after the MHRA approved the pill version of a similar weight-loss drug, Wegovy, in June 2026. Eli Lilly, which already produces the weight-loss injection Mounjaro, is now also marketing an oral option.
Professor Naveed Sattar called the approval "good news," adding that the arrival of another effective oral option is a positive development. "The arrival of another effective oral option is a positive development and should help more people access the treatment that best suits their needs and preferences," he told BBC News.
Dr. Simon Cork from Anglia Ruskin University noted that while the weight-loss benefits of Foundayo are somewhat less than those of other treatments, patients can still expect "significant, clinically meaningful changes in their weight." He also pointed out that the drug is likely to be cheaper than other options, which could ease pressure on the NHS budget, which has so far strictly limited access to more expensive weight-loss treatments.
Although the drug can be purchased privately with a prescription immediately, its approval by the MHRA does not automatically mean it will be available through the state health system (NHS). Eli Lilly has announced that Foundayo will be immediately available in the NHS for treating type 2 diabetes, but for it to be recommended as a weight-loss treatment, it will need to undergo additional assessment.
The application will be submitted to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), the body that decides on the recommendation and funding of treatments in England. Only after a positive recommendation from NICE could the drug become widely available to patients struggling with obesity, at the expense of health insurance.
Clinical trials lasting one year showed that patients who took a daily tablet of orforglipron, the active ingredient in Foundayo, managed to avoid regaining a significant portion of the weight they had lost. This is a known risk that occurs after stopping GLP-1 injections.
Like any other drug, Foundayo can cause side effects, including nausea, diarrhea, constipation, and vomiting. Experts remind that weight-loss medications should always be combined with a healthy diet and adequate exercise.
