Foundayo (orforglipron) and the Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide) are the two GLP-1 weight-loss tablets licensed in the UK, both taken once a day and both private prescription only. The biggest everyday difference is the routine: the Wegovy pill is taken on an empty stomach with a sip of water and a 30-minute wait, while Foundayo can be taken at any time, with or without food. In their own main trials, people on the top doses lost 13.6% (the Wegovy pill, 64 weeks) and 11.2% (Foundayo, 72 weeks) of their body weight on average. There's no official dose conversion between them.
General information, not medical advice or an advert. Both tablets are prescription-only medicines, and which one suits you, if either, is a decision for a qualified prescriber.
Until this summer, a GLP-1 for weight loss in the UK meant an injection. Now there are two tablets, a couple of months apart: the Wegovy pill in June and Foundayo in August. They sound alike and they're often talked about as if they were the same thing. They aren't. Different medicines, different makers, and a very different morning.
This page puts them side by side using the two UK labels and the trials behind them. It won't tell you which one to choose. It will give you the questions worth taking to the person who prescribes.
The two tablets at a glance
| Foundayo | Wegovy pill | |
|---|---|---|
| Medicine | Orforglipron, made by Eli Lilly | Semaglutide, made by Novo Nordisk |
| Licensed in the UK | 10 August 2026 | 11 June 2026 |
| How you take it | One tablet a day, at any time | One tablet a day, on an empty stomach |
| Food and water | No rules | A sip of water (no more than 120 ml), then wait 30 minutes |
| Dose steps | 0.8, 2.5 and 5.5 mg, then up one level at a time to 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg | 1.5, 4 and 9 mg, then 25 mg |
| Shortest time to the top dose | 5 months | 3 months |
| Main weight-loss trial | ATTAIN-1: 11.2% at 72 weeks | OASIS 4: 13.6% at 64 weeks |
| Licensed for | Weight management, and type 2 diabetes | Weight management |
| On the NHS | No (NICE guidance expected 27 January 2027) | No (no NICE date yet) |
Trial figures are average weight lost on the top dose, counting everyone who started, in separate trials. Doses from each UK label, section 4.2. The shortest time to the top dose assumes every step up happens at the earliest point the label allows.
How each one is taken
This is the difference you'll feel every day. The Wegovy pill is semaglutide, a peptide, and only about 1 to 2% of each tablet reaches your blood. Food and drink cut that further, so the routine is strict (Wegovy tablets UK SmPC, sections 4.2 and 5.2). Foundayo is a small molecule that isn't affected by food in a way that matters, so it has no routine at all (Foundayo UK SmPC, sections 4.2 and 5.2).
From the UK labels
A morning with the Wegovy pill, and what Foundayo needs instead
- After 8 hours without food
On an empty stomach. (For most people, that means first thing in the morning.)
- One tablet, a sip of water
Swallowed whole, with no more than half a glass of water (120 ml).
- Wait at least 30 minutes
No food, other drinks or other tablets yet. Tea and coffee wait too.
- Then carry on
Breakfast, your coffee and your other medicines.
Foundayo
One tablet, swallowed whole, at any time of day, with or without food or water. Never more than one tablet a day.
Missed doses work differently too. With the Wegovy pill you skip the missed tablet and take the next one the following day. With Foundayo you take it as soon as you can, but never more than one tablet in a day.
The dose steps
Both start low and step up, so your stomach has time to adjust. They're two separate ladders, so read them on their own: a step on one isn't the same as the step with the same number on the other.
Foundayo
It starts at 0.8 mg once a day. After at least 30 days it goes up to 2.5 mg, and after at least 30 more days it can go up to 5.5 mg. From there your prescriber can step it up one level at a time, to 9 mg, then 14.5 mg, then 17.2 mg, each at least 30 days apart, depending on how well it's working and how you're tolerating it. 17.2 mg is the most anyone takes in a day (Foundayo UK SmPC, section 4.2).
The Wegovy pill
It starts at 1.5 mg once a day for at least a month, then goes up to 4 mg and 9 mg, at least a month each, to the 25 mg maintenance dose from the fourth month. If needed, the label allows the dose to be kept at the previous level (Wegovy tablets UK SmPC, section 4.2).
The numbers can't be compared across the two. A 9 mg Foundayo tablet and a 9 mg Wegovy tablet are different medicines, absorbed in different ways, and neither number tells you how strong one is against the other. Our guide to oral and injected doses explains why the milligrams mislead.
What the trials found
Neither tablet has been tested against the other for weight loss. What we have is each one's main trial against a placebo. In OASIS 4, adults on the 25 mg Wegovy pill lost 13.6% of their body weight on average over 64 weeks, against 2.2% on placebo (OASIS 4, NEJM 2025). In ATTAIN-1, adults on the top dose of Foundayo lost 11.2% over 72 weeks, against 2.1% on placebo (ATTAIN-1, NEJM 2025). Both figures count everyone who started, including people who stopped.
Published trial data
Average weight lost in each tablet's main trial
Top dose against placebo, counting everyone who started. Two separate trials.
- The tablet
- Placebo in the same trial
| Trial group | Average weight lost |
|---|---|
| Wegovy pill 25 mg, 64 weeks | 13.6% |
| Placebo, OASIS 4 | 2.2% |
| Foundayo top dose, 72 weeks | 11.2% |
| Placebo, ATTAIN-1 | 2.1% |
The trials differed in size, length and who took part, so the gap between 13.6% and 11.2% is a rough guide, not a verdict. Your own result depends on your dose, how long you stay on it and how well you tolerate it.
The one head-to-head trial, in type 2 diabetes
The only trial comparing the two medicines directly, ACHIEVE-3, was an open-label trial in 1,698 adults with type 2 diabetes, over 52 weeks. It compared orforglipron, the medicine in Foundayo (as the trial capsules), with oral semaglutide at the lower doses used for diabetes (Rybelsus), not the 25 mg Wegovy pill. Orforglipron lowered blood sugar (HbA1c) more at both of its doses (ACHIEVE-3, The Lancet 2026). At the highest doses, counting everyone who started, Lilly reported 8.2% weight loss with orforglipron against 5.3% with oral semaglutide (Eli Lilly). More people stopped orforglipron because of side effects: 9% and 10%, against 4% and 5%. It's a useful result, but it doesn't answer the weight-loss question at the 25 mg dose.
Side effects
Both are GLP-1 medicines, so the common side effects are much the same: feeling sick, being sick, diarrhoea, constipation, indigestion and stomach pain, mostly mild or moderate and most likely while the dose is going up. Here's how often they turned up in each trial programme:
| Foundayo, top dose (weight-loss trials) | Wegovy pill 25 mg (OASIS 4) | |
|---|---|---|
| Any stomach or gut side effect | 68.7% (placebo 36.3%) | 74.0% (placebo 42.2%) |
| Stopped because of stomach or gut side effects | 6.8% (placebo 0.6%) | 3.4% (placebo figure not given in the UK label) |
| Stopped because of any side effect | 10.3% (placebo 2.7%) | 6.9% (placebo 5.9%) |
| Other things the label flags | A faster heartbeat, hair loss, gallstones | Hair loss, gallstones, odd skin sensations |
Foundayo: UK SmPC section 4.8 (pooled weight-management trials) and ATTAIN-1. Wegovy pill: OASIS 4 and the UK SmPC section 4.8. Different trials and populations, so compare with care.
With either tablet, severe stomach pain that won't go away, sometimes spreading to your back, means stopping the tablet and calling 999 or going to A&E, because it can be a sign of pancreatitis. So do yellow skin or eyes, a high temperature with shivers, or signs of a serious allergic reaction, such as a swollen face, lips or throat or trouble breathing. Being sick or having diarrhoea that won't stop can dehydrate you and affect your kidneys: sip fluids and call your prescriber or NHS 111. You can report side effects to the MHRA through the Yellow Card scheme. Both tablets are new medicines under extra monitoring, so reports help.
Who each is licensed for, and the NHS
The weight-management licences match. Both cover adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 to 30 with at least one weight-related health problem, alongside a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity. Foundayo is also licensed for type 2 diabetes, alone or with other diabetes medicines. Neither is licensed for under-18s (Wegovy tablets SmPC) (Foundayo SmPC).
Neither is on the NHS. NICE's appraisal of Foundayo has a second committee meeting on 10 November 2026, and NICE expects to publish its guidance on 27 January 2027 (NICE, ID6516). Its review of the Wegovy pill became part of a broader semaglutide appraisal on 8 October 2026, which has no publication date yet (NICE, ID6699). For now, both are private prescription only. We don't list prices on this page.
No conversion between them
There is no official dose conversion between Foundayo and the Wegovy pill.
Neither UK label gives a dose for switching from one tablet to the other, or from a Mounjaro or Wegovy injection to Foundayo. The milligrams aren't comparable, so a matching number doesn't mean a matching dose. If you're thinking about changing medicine, the starting dose is your prescriber's decision, based on the new medicine's label. Don't work it out yourself, and don't take both.
Questions to take to your prescriber
Neither tablet is the best one for everyone. These are the things that tend to decide it, and they're worth having thought about before your appointment:
From the UK labels
What to think about before you choose
Your mornings
Can you take a tablet on an empty stomach and wait 30 minutes before coffee, food or other tablets, every day? If not, that points away from the Wegovy pill.
Your other medicines
Foundayo interacts with some antibiotics, antifungals, HIV and epilepsy medicines and statins. The Wegovy pill can raise thyroxine levels if you take levothyroxine.
Contraception
With Foundayo, the contraceptive pill needs back-up such as condoms for 30 days after starting and after each dose increase. The Wegovy pill's label found no clinically relevant change.
Pregnancy plans
Use contraception while you take either one. Neither is for use in pregnancy or while breastfeeding: stop the Wegovy pill at least 2 months before trying for a baby, and Foundayo at least 3 weeks before.
If you want the full detail on either one, we have a Wegovy pill UK guide and a Foundayo UK guide.
FAQs
What is the difference between Foundayo and the Wegovy pill?
Which is more effective, Foundayo or the Wegovy pill?
Can I switch from the Wegovy pill to Foundayo?
Which weight loss tablets are licensed in the UK?
Can I get Foundayo or the Wegovy pill on the NHS?
Do Foundayo or the Wegovy pill have food rules?
Do they affect the contraceptive pill?
General information from the UK labels and published trials, not medical advice. Your prescriber decides which medicine and which dose suit you.
View sources (13)
- Wegovy 25 mg tablets, UK Summary of Product Characteristics, electronic medicines compendium, June 2026
- Foundayo film-coated tablets, UK Summary of Product Characteristics, electronic medicines compendium, August 2026
- Wharton S, et al. Oral semaglutide at a dose of 25 mg in adults with overweight or obesity (OASIS 4). New England Journal of Medicine, 2025
- Wharton S, et al. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist for obesity treatment (ATTAIN-1). New England Journal of Medicine, 2025
- Rosenstock J, et al. Orforglipron versus oral semaglutide in type 2 diabetes (ACHIEVE-3). The Lancet, 2026
- Lilly's oral GLP-1, orforglipron, superior to oral semaglutide in head-to-head trial, Eli Lilly, 17 September 2025
- First GLP-1 tablet for weight loss approved in the UK, MHRA, GOV.UK, 11 June 2026
- UK first in Europe to authorise orforglipron for weight management and type 2 diabetes, MHRA, GOV.UK, 10 August 2026
- Orforglipron for managing overweight and obesity (ID6516), NICE, in development
- Semaglutide for managing overweight and obesity, including review of TA875 (ID6699), NICE, in development
- Yellow Card: report a suspected side effect, MHRA
- Gallstones: when to get help, NHS
- Acute pancreatitis: when to get help, NHS
