Foundayo vs Wegovy Pill: How the Two Oral GLP-1 Weight Loss Tablets Compare

No more needles? Injections are no longer the only way to take GLP-1 weight loss medicine. Two new tablets are emerging: Wegovy® Pill, and Foundayo®. They work in a similar way to each other, with a few significant differences. Let’s explore how they compare.

Article summary:

• Both are once-daily GLP-1 tablets, but they contain different active ingredients. Wegovy Pill contains semaglutide, while Foundayo contains orforglipron.
• The biggest practical difference is timing. The Wegovy pill needs an empty stomach and a 30-minute wait after taking it. Foundayo doesn't have those restrictions.
• In separate trials, Wegovy pill users lost an average of 16.6% of their body weight over 64 weeks (1 year, 3 months), and Foundayo users lost an average of 12.4% over 72 weeks (1 year, 5 months) at the highest doses. These are different trials in different people, so they can't be compared directly.

What are Foundayo and Wegovy Pill?

Both medicines belong to the same family, called GLP-1 receptor agonists. GLP-1 is a hormone your body makes after you eat. It helps you feel full and slows down how fast your stomach empties. [1] Both tablets copy this hormone and may make it easier to eat less, leading to weight loss.

The Wegovy pill contains the active ingredient semaglutide. It's made by Novo Nordisk, the same company behind the Wegovy injection.

Foundayo contains a different medicine called orforglipron. It's made by Eli Lilly, the company behind the Mounjaro injection. Orforglipron is built differently to semaglutide. It's what's called a small molecule, rather than a peptide. [2] In plain terms, this means it doesn't need special handling to be absorbed, which is why Foundayo can be taken without the food and water rules that apply to the Wegovy pill.

Are they available in the UK?

Yes. On 11 June 2026, the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) approved the Wegovy pill for weight loss in the UK. [3] It isn't available on the NHS yet. NICE, the body that decides which treatments the NHS funds in England, is still reviewing it. In the meantime, you can only get the Wegovy pill privately, through a pharmacy or a regulated online clinic.

Foundayo was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on 1 April 2026. [4] It was then authorised by the MHRA on 11 August 2026 for weight management and type 2 diabetes in the UK.

How do you take each one?

This is where the two tablets differ the most.

Wegovy Pill

Take it first thing in the morning, after at least 8 hours without food. Swallow it whole with a small sip (less than 120ml) of plain water. You must then wait at least 30 minutes before you eat, drink anything else, or take other medicines. Doing so any earlier will compromise the effectiveness of the Wegovy pill.[3]

Wegovy Pill has four available dose strengths. Your clinician will help to decide as and when you’re ready to step up to the next dose.

Foundayo

Take it once a day, at any time. You can take it with or without food or water. [4]

Food and drink change conditions in your stomach. For the Wegovy pill, this can lower how much medicine your body absorbs, so the fasting rule matters. Foundayo takes away the stress of timings, which makes it helpful for people who find a strict morning routine hard to stick to.

Foundayo has six available dose strengths, so it may take longer to reach a higher dose that works best for you. Your clinician will work with you to help decide when you should step up to the next dose.

How well do they work?

Wegovy Pill's approval is based on a trial called OASIS 4. Adults with obesity took either the tablet or a dummy tablet (a placebo) for 64 weeks (1 year, 3 months). People who took the Wegovy pill as directed lost an average of 16.6% of their body weight, compared with 2.7% on placebo. [5] For someone who weighs 100kg, that works out at around 16.6kg on average in 1 year and 3 months, though results vary from person to person, and this doesn't imply guaranteed results.

Foundayo's approval is based on a trial called ATTAIN-1. Adults with obesity took one of three doses of orforglipron, or a placebo, for 72 weeks (1 year, 5 months). At the highest dose, people lost an average of 12.4% of their body weight, compared with 2.1% on placebo. [6] For someone who weighs 100kg, that works out at around 12.4kg on average in 1 year and 5 months. The tablet uses slightly different milligram strengths to the capsules tested in the trial.

It's worth remembering that the above results are from two separate trials, in different groups of people in different time periods. So, the results shouldn't be compared directly. The best treatment for you is the one you can take consistently and safely. That’s why it’s important to consider how easily the medication will fit into your routine, as while Foundayo requires no fasting or strict directions, Wegovy Pill must be taken in a very specific way for it to be effective.

What are the side effects?

The side effects of both medicines are similar, because they work on the same hormone pathway. [1]

Some common ones for both include:

• Feeling or being sick (nausea)
• Diarrhoea
• Constipation
• Indigestion or stomach pain
• Headache
• Tiredness (fatigue)
• Bloating
• Burping or wind

These are usually more noticeable when you start treatment or when your dose goes up.

Both medicines carry the same warning about a possible risk of thyroid tumours, based on animal studies. [4,5] Neither is suitable if you or a family member has had certain types of thyroid cancer. Both can also cause low blood sugar or allergic reactions, or more rarely, pancreatitis. [1]

Because both are prescription-only medicines, they should only be started under clinical supervision. Your prescriber will check whether a treatment is safe for you.

How do they compare with injections?

Both tablets are designed to offer similar results to weekly GLP-1 injections, without needles. Wegovy and Mounjaro remain the injectable options currently available through the NHS and private prescribers in the UK. [7]

If you're currently doing well on an injection, there may be no need to switch. In a recent study, people who had completed 72 weeks of treatment with Mounjaro then switched to Foundayo for a further 52 weeks maintained most of their weight loss, with an average weight regain of around 5kg. This suggests Foundayo may be a suitable maintenance option for some people who want to move away from injectable treatment, although individual results will vary. [8]

However, if needles are the main barrier stopping you from starting or sticking with treatment, or you’d prefer an injection-free treatment for long-term weight management now that you’re reaching your weight loss goals, a tablet may be worth discussing.

Choosing between an oral pill and an injectable treatment comes down to what fits your lifestyle and goals. At MedExpress, we offer online consultations with regular clinical check-ins, and a range of weight loss treatments including Mounjaro, Wegovy Pen, Wegovy Pill and Foundayo and our team can help you find the right treatment for you.

References

1. NHS. Semaglutide: a medicine to manage type 2 diabetes or treat obesity [Internet]. nhs.uk; 2026.
2. Wharton S, Aronne LJ, Stefanski A, et al. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity treatment (ATTAIN-1). N Engl J Med. 2025;393(18):1796-1806.
3. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency. MHRA approves semaglutide oral tablets for weight loss [news release]. London: GOV.UK; 11 June 2026.
4. Eli Lilly and Company. FDA approves Lilly's Foundayo™ (orforglipron), the only GLP-1 pill for weight loss that can be taken any time of day without food or water restrictions [news release]. Indianapolis: Eli Lilly; 1 April 2026.
5. Novo Nordisk A/S. FDA approves Novo Nordisk's Wegovy® pill, the first and only oral GLP-1 for weight loss in adults [news release]. Bagsværd: Novo Nordisk; 22 December 2025.
6. Wharton S, Aronne LJ, Stefanski A, et al. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity treatment (ATTAIN-1). N Engl J Med. 2025;393(18):1796-1806.
7. British Heart Foundation. Wegovy: what to know about the weight-loss injection [Internet]. bhf.org.uk; 2025.
8. Aronne LJ, Horn DB, le Roux CW, Chao AM, Ho W, Halpern B, Griffin R, Xie C, Valderas EG, Lee CJ, Ribeiro A, Hyman DM, Glass L, Xavier N. Orforglipron for maintenance of body weight reduction: the double-blind, randomized phase 3b ATTAIN-MAINTAIN trial. Nat Med. 2026 Jul;32(7):2679-2687. doi: 10.1038/s41591-026-04386-7. Epub 2026 May 13. PMID: 42120723; PMCID: PMC13375559.