Lilly's obesity pill Foundayo posts $98 million in first full quarter

Eli Lilly's obesity pill Foundayo (orforglipron) generated $98 million in second-quarter sales, its first full quarter of results, a smaller total than the competing oral Wegovy from Novo Nordisk ^[1][2]. The Wegovy pill, which launched in January 2026, recorded about $494 million, or 3.2 billion Danish kroner, in the same quarter ^[1][2].

Lilly's injectable drugs did the heavy lifting. Mounjaro, its tirzepatide product for type 2 diabetes, brought in $9.94 billion worldwide, up 91% from a year earlier, while Zepbound, the tirzepatide obesity drug, rose 46% to $4.93 billion ^[1]. Together the two accounted for nearly 65% of Lilly's second-quarter revenue ^[1]. Total quarterly revenue climbed 48% to almost $23 billion, beating a consensus estimate of $20.6 billion, and Lilly raised its full-year revenue guidance to $85 billion to $87 billion from $82 billion to $85 billion ^[2].

Foundayo's $98 million came in below the $104 million Wall Street consensus tracked by RBC Capital Markets analyst Trung Huynh ^[2]. The Wegovy pill's 3.2 billion kroner was also short of the 3.6 billion kroner analysts expected ^[2]. Novo shares fell 6% after its report before recovering some ground, while Lilly shares rose 2% in early trading after its results ^[2].

Access to Foundayo is still broadening. All three major U.S. pharmacy benefit managers now cover Lilly's obesity portfolio, and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program began giving eligible patients access to Foundayo and Zepbound in July ^[1]. Foundayo can be taken at any time of day without food or water restrictions, which the company says may make it more convenient than oral Wegovy ^[1].

Novo's injectable franchise showed little growth: Ozempic sales of $4.88 billion and Wegovy injectable sales of $3.03 billion were both essentially flat at constant exchange rates ^[1]. Novo also reported that its experimental next-generation injectable CagriSema failed to control blood sugar as well as tirzepatide in a head-to-head trial of patients with type 2 diabetes ^[2].

Why it matters for patients

There are now two oral GLP-1 options in the U.S. market, and the sales gap between them is narrower on the access side than the revenue figures suggest. Lilly says all three major pharmacy benefit managers cover its obesity portfolio, and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program added Foundayo and Zepbound in July ^[1]. That means coverage decisions, not just launch timing, are shifting how quickly patients can get either pill.

Price pressure is part of the picture on both sides. Lilly reported lower realized prices for Mounjaro and Zepbound in the U.S. even as volumes rose ^[1]. Novo now expects its adjusted sales at constant exchange rates to be flat or fall as much as 6% this year, an improvement on its earlier estimate of a 4% to 12% decline ^[2].

What the two pills do in direct comparison has not been reported in these results. No head-to-head weight-loss data between Foundayo and oral Wegovy appears in either company's quarterly figures, and neither company disclosed how much of Foundayo's sales pace reflects supply, demand or insurance coverage. Whether Foundayo closes the gap with the Wegovy pill in later quarters is not yet known.

What happens next

Lilly is seeking regulatory review for Foundayo in more than 40 additional countries and is pursuing a type 2 diabetes indication for the drug ^[1]. Viking Therapeutics plans to move its oral VK2735 into phase III development for obesity in the fourth quarter of 2026, and Structure Therapeutics has begun dosing patients in its late-stage ACCOMPLISH program for aleniglipron ^[1]. Lilly said it expects Mounjaro and Zepbound to remain its key growth drivers in the second half of the year, with continued volume growth and pricing pressure ^[1].