Eli Lilly Just Scored Europe’s First Weight Loss <a href="https://healthylife7.com/eu-wegovy-pill-approval-could-deepen-glp/” title=”EU Wegovy pill approval could deepen GLP”>Pill Approval — and the Growth Story Keeps Getting Bigger
Matthew Benjamin, The Motley Fool
Fri, August 14, 2026 at 8:20 PM GMT+5:30
3 min read
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This week, the U.K.’s healthcare regulatory body approved Eli Lilly’s (NYSE: LLY) weight loss drug orforglipron, sold as Foundayo, for weight management and type 2 diabetes. Unlike Lilly’s other weight loss drug, Zepbound, Foundayo is a pill, not an injectable medication — and that’s a fresh piece of good news for investors
“Following rigorous assessment of orforglipron’s safety, quality, and effectiveness, we are pleased to be the first regulator in Europe to authorise this tablet for weight management and type 2 diabetes,” said Julian Breach, an executive director at the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency
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The U.K. approval takes the GLP-1 drug battle global, and now Eli Lilly will compete with rival Novo Nordisk (NYSE: NVO). Novo Nordisk has been selling its own weight loss pill, Wegovy, in the U.K. for two months. Foundayo may have a small advantage over Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill because it has no food restrictions. Wegovy users must abstain from eating for 30 minutes after taking the medication
The market for weight management drugs continues to balloon
Foundayo has been available in the U.S. since April. Both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have scrambled to offer their GLP-1 drugs in pill form because there is thought to be some resistance to injectable drugs among consumers, and it’s possible a pill form of the weight-loss and diabetes drugs could ramp up sales even faster
That would be no small feat, as demand for GLP-1 drugs is already enormous and growing rapidly. The global market for obesity medicines reached $66 billion in 2025 and is projected to rise to $92 billion this year, according to healthcare research firm IQVIA
The market is forecast to reach between $105 billion and $200 billion by 2027 and continue growing from there. IQVIA research says this year will be an inflection point for obesity treatments, with oral therapies like Wegovy and Foundayo coming online and national health services like Medicare providing access to GLP-1 therapies
In addition, last year, drug giant Pfizer acquired Metsera, a clinical-stage developer of obesity drugs. And China is emerging as a potential GLP-1 giant, both as a volume opportunity for current GLP-1 drug makers and a
