For the first time, anyone looking at a GLP-1 treatment for weight loss can get a daily tablet instead of a weekly injection. Two are now approved in the UK: the Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide) and Foundayo (orforglipron).
At first, they sound pretty similar. Both are once-daily tablets, both work on the same appetite pathway, and both offer the kind of weight loss people associate with GLP-1 medicines without the weekly injection. But when you compare them properly, you start to see where they differ: from how you take them and how much your body absorbs to the amount of weight people tend to lose.
| Oral Wegovy | Foundayo | |
| Active ingredient | Semaglutide | Orforglipron |
| Manufacturer | Novo Nordisk | Eli Lilly |
| Drug type | Peptide (with SNAC absorption enhancer) | Small molecule |
| Frequency | Once daily | Once daily |
| When to take | First thing in the morning | Any time of day |
| Fasting required | Yes, at least 8 hours | No |
| Food and drink after | Wait 30 minutes before eating | No wait |
| Water limit | Up to 120ml of plain water | None |
| Top-dose average weight loss | Around 13.6% (OASIS 4, 64 weeks) | Around 11.1% (ATTAIN-1, 72 weeks) |
| UK approval | MHRA authorised 11 June 2026 | MHRA authorised 10 August 2026 |
| NHS availability | Not yet, NICE review ongoing | Not yet |
| Private prescription | Yes, through regulated pharmacies | Yes, through regulated pharmacies |
Foundayo is the brand name for orforglipron, a new once-daily oral GLP-1 from Eli Lilly, the same company behind Mounjaro.
Its active ingredient belongs to the GLP-1 class, but it’s built differently from every other GLP-1 currently on the UK market. Rather than being a peptide, orforglipron is what’s called a small molecule.
That difference in chemistry is the reason Foundayo doesn’t need any of the food, drink or timing restrictions that come with other oral GLP-1s. It’s absorbed reliably on its own, with or without food, at any time of day.
The Wegovy pill is the oral version of semaglutide, the same active ingredient found in the Wegovy injection and in Rybelsus.
It’s made by Novo Nordisk and, like all semaglutide products, it’s a peptide. Peptides are broken down easily by stomach acid, which is why oral semaglutide is paired with an absorption enhancer called SNAC. SNAC helps a small amount of the medicine get through the stomach lining and into the bloodstream, but only under fasted conditions.
That’s the reason the Wegovy pill has to be taken on an empty stomach first thing in the morning, with a small sip of water, and followed by a 30-minute wait before anything else.
The Wegovy pill and Foundayo work in a similar way, in the sense that they both belong to the GLP-1 receptor agonist class and act on the same appetite pathway.
Once absorbed, both medicines activate GLP-1 receptors, which:
It’s the same mechanism for Mounjaro, the Wegovy injection and Rybelsus. Where they differ is how they enter the body in the first place, which comes down to the difference between a small molecule and a peptide, rather than how they work once they’re there.
Both are approved in the UK, but neither is available on the NHS yet.
The Wegovy pill was authorised by the MHRA on 11th June 2026 for weight management. It’s available now on private prescription through UK pharmacies and regulated online clinics like Click2Pharmacy. A NICE review is underway to decide whether it’ll be offered on the NHS.
Foundayo was approved by the FDA on 1st April 2026, and the MHRA followed on 10 August 2026, authorising it for both weight management and type 2 diabetes. The UK was the first country in Europe to approve orforglipron. Like the Wegovy pill, it’s available on private prescription and isn’t yet funded on the NHS.
Both are once-daily tablets, but that’s where the similarity ends. The Wegovy pill has strict rules about when and how it’s taken. Foundayo can be taken at any time of day.
| Wegovy pill | Foundayo | |
| Tablet shape | Round (1.5mg, 4mg and 9mg) or oval (25mg) | Modified oval |
| Tablet colour | White to yellow | Varies by dose (17.2mg is greyish-purple) |
| Coating | Debossed with the dose on one side and Novo on the other, not film-coated | Film-coated and debossed with “Lilly’ and a dose code |
| When to take | First thing in the morning | Any time of day |
| Fasting beforehand | At least 8 hours without food | None |
| How to swallow | Whole, with a small sip of plain water (up to 120ml) | Whole, no water restriction |
| Wait before eating, drinking or taking other medicines | At least 30 minutes | None |
| With or without food | On an empty stomach only | Either |
| Consistency | Same routine every morning | Same time each day, whatever time suits you |
If the Wegovy pill’s dosing rules aren’t followed properly, absorption drops and the medicine becomes less effective. Foundayo doesn’t have that problem. It’s absorbed the same way whether it’s taken with breakfast, on a lunch break, or before bed.
The Wegovy pill has a stricter dosing schedule compared to Foundayo because of the type of medicine they’re made from. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in the Wegovy pill, is a peptide. Peptides are fragile in the stomach and are quickly broken down by digestive enzymes and acid. The SNAC absorption enhancer helps some of the semaglutide survive and cross into the bloodstream, but only in a small window and only when the stomach is empty. Even then, oral bioavailability is around 1-2%.
Orforglipron is made differently from peptide medicines. It’s more stable in the stomach and your body can absorb a much higher amount of it (around 79%). That means Foundayo can be taken without fasting, limiting how much water you drink, or waiting before you eat.
Both tablets are started at a low dose and gradually stepped up to give the body time to adjust. The Wegovy pill moves through four dose strengths. Foundayo has six, which allows for smaller jumps between each step and, for some people, an easier ride through the early side effects.
Doses are per day. These are different molecules – the milligrams do not compare between them.
Note: the clinical trials for Foundayo used a 36mg capsule, but the approved tablet is labelled as 17.2mg. Both deliver the same amount of active drug. Eli Lilly reformulated the tablet between the trial and the launch, and the lower number on the packet reflects the more efficient formulation rather than a lower dose.
Both Foundayo (orforglipron) and the Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide) have produced strong weight loss results in phase 3 clinical trials. Oral Wegovy came out slightly ahead on the headline numbers, with average weight loss of around 14% compared with around 11% for Foundayo, but the two haven’t been compared head-to-head.
The studies involved different numbers of participants, ran for different lengths of time and used different trial designs. So rather than treating one result as proof that one tablet is better, it’s worth looking at what each trial actually found.
| Wegovy Pill | Foundayo | |
| Trial | OASIS 4 | ATTAIN-1 |
| Active ingredient | Oral semaglutide | Orforglipron |
| Participants | 307 | 3,127 |
| Trial length | 64 weeks | 72 weeks |
| Average weight loss | Around 14% | Around 11.2% |
| Average among completers | Around 16.6% | Around 12.4% |
| Lost at least 10% of body weight | Not reported | 54.6% |
| Lost at least 15% of body weight | Not reported | 36% |
| Lost at least 20% of body weight | Around 30% | 18.4% |
People taking the Wegovy pill lost around 14% of their starting body weight on average over 64 weeks, according to the OASIS 4 trial.
OASIS 4 followed 307 adults with obesity, or who were overweight with a weight-related health condition, taking either 25mg oral semaglutide or a placebo once a day. Placebo weight loss was around 2.4% over the same period.
Among people who stayed on treatment for the full trial, average weight loss rose to around 16.6%. More than three quarters lost at least 5% of their starting body weight, and roughly 30% lost 20% or more.
People taking Foundayo at the highest dose lost around 11.2% of their starting body weight on average over 72 weeks, based on results from the ATTAIN-1 trial.
ATTAIN-1 is the largest trial of orforglipron to date. It included 3,127 adults with obesity who did not have type 2 diabetes, taking orforglipron at different doses or a placebo. Placebo weight loss was around 2.1%.
Among people who completed treatment, average weight loss was around 12.4%. The trial also showed that 54.6% of participants lost at least 10% of their body weight, 36% lost at least 15%, and 18.4% lost 20% or more.
Based on the trial averages, the Wegovy pill produced slightly more weight loss than Foundayo. But there hasn’t been a head-to-head trial comparing the two tablets directly, so it’s too early to say the difference would hold up if the same group of people were tested on both.
The trials also enrolled different populations and ran for different lengths of time, which affects the numbers. What the results do show is that both oral GLP-1 tablets can produce meaningful weight loss when taken alongside diet and lifestyle changes.
A prescriber can advise which option suits an individual patient, taking into account medical history, tolerability and how each tablet fits into your daily routine.
Both tablets aim to replicate the results of weekly Wegovy and Mounjaro injections without a needle. Neither has quite matched them yet.
The Wegovy injection resulted in an average weight loss of around 19% in the Wegovy HD study. Mounjaro produces the greatest average weight loss of any GLP-1 currently available in the UK, with up to 22.5% of starting body weight, ahead of both the Wegovy injection and either oral tablet.
Foundayo has also been studied as a maintenance option for people who’ve already lost weight on Mounjaro. In the ATTAIN-MAINTAIN trial, participants who switched from Mounjaro to Foundayo kept most of their weight loss, with an average regain of around 5kg. That gives it a potential role beyond first-line treatment, as a way to hold results once someone’s finished a course of injections.
Because both medicines act through the same GLP-1 pathway, their side effect profiles overlap. Most gastrointestinal side effects are noticed in the first few weeks or after a dose increase, and they tend to settle as the body adjusts.
The most commonly reported side effects for both tablets are:
| Side effect | Wegovy pill (25mg) | Foundayo (17.2mg) |
| Nausea | 46.6% | 35% |
| Vomiting | 30.9% | 24% |
| Constipation | 20.1% | 24% |
| Indigestion | 18.1% | 13% |
| Diarrhoea | 17.6% | 25% |
| Headache | 11.8% | 9% |
| Burping | 10.3% | 8% |
| Hair loss | 6.4% | 5% |
In OASIS 4, around 7% of people stopped the Wegovy pill because of side effects, compared with 6% on placebo. In ATTAIN-1, between 5 and 10% of people stopped Foundayo due to side effects, depending on the dose, compared with around 3% on placebo.
Nausea and vomiting are more common on the Wegovy tablet. Diarrhoea and constipation are more common on Foundayo. Neither tablet is obviously better tolerated overall, and side effects vary widely from person to person.
Beyond the everyday risk of side effects covered above, both tablets carry a boxed warning about a possible risk of thyroid tumours, based on findings in animal studies. Neither should be taken by anyone with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid cancer (MTC) or multiple endocrine neoplasia type 2 (MEN 2).
Both can also cause low blood sugar, allergic reactions and, rarely, pancreatitis. Both are prescription-only weight loss medications and need to be started under clinical supervision, with a proper medical assessment before treatment begins.
There’s no clinical rule that makes one weight loss pill the right answer for everyone. Both are effective, both are approved for weight management, and both have the same broad set of side effects.
The decision usually comes down to how well the dosing schedule fits your daily life, and how you feel about the track record of the active ingredient.
Whichever tablet suits you best should be chosen with a clinician who’s reviewed your medical history, current medications and weight-loss goals. A brief consultation is the quickest way to find out which option you’re eligible for and which one is likely to work best for you.
Both Foundayo and the Wegovy pill are available on private prescription through Click2Pharmacy’s weight loss clinic. Start with a short online consultation and one of our clinicians will review your details to check you’re eligible for treatment. If you’re approved, your chosen tablet can be sent out to you with free next-day delivery.
No. Foundayo (orforglipron) and Wegovy (semaglutide) are two different medicines, made by two different companies. They belong to the same GLP-1 drug class and act on the same appetite pathway, but they have different chemistries, dosing regimens and trial results.
Switching between GLP-1s is possible, but it should only be done under clinical supervision. Your prescriber will look at your current dose, how you’ve tolerated your existing medicine and your reasons for switching before recommending an appropriate starting dose on the new tablet. Don’t stop one and start the other on your own.
The Wegovy pill produced slightly greater average weight loss in its main trial (around 13.6% over 64 weeks) than Foundayo did in its own (around 11.1% over 72 weeks). The two haven’t been compared directly, and the gap is small. In practice, the tablet you can take consistently is the one that works best for you.
Not at the moment. Both are approved by the MHRA but neither has been recommended for NHS funding yet. A NICE review of the Wegovy pill is ongoing. Until either is available on the NHS, both can be accessed through private prescription from regulated UK pharmacies.
