Foundayo (orforglipron): doses, how to take it, and how it compares

Foundayo is Eli Lilly's brand name for orforglipron, a once-daily oral GLP-1 pill that the FDA approved for chronic weight management in adults on April 1, 2026 (Eli Lilly, April 2026). You swallow it, no injection. If you've spent the last couple of years on a weekly shot, or you've been putting one off because of the needle, this is the news you've probably been waiting for. Let's walk through what it actually is, how well it works, and what it costs.

Foundayo at a glance

• Foundayo is Eli Lilly's brand name for orforglipron, a once-daily oral GLP-1 pill.
• The FDA approved it on April 1, 2026 for chronic weight management in adults.
• You swallow it. No injection, and no food or water rules.
• In its main trial, people on the highest dose lost about 11% of their body weight on average over 72 weeks, counting everyone who started.
• It is not retatrutide, and it is not the same as the Wegovy pill. Different drugs, and the internet keeps mixing them up.
• Self-pay starts at $149 a month; with commercial insurance and a savings card, some people pay as little as $25.

What Foundayo actually is

Foundayo is Eli Lilly's brand name for orforglipron, a once-daily GLP-1 receptor agonist that comes as a tablet. It's a small-molecule (non-peptide) drug, which is the technical reason it survives being swallowed. Most GLP-1 medications are peptides that your stomach would break down, so they have to be injected. Orforglipron doesn't, so it works as a pill.

It's a single GLP-1 agonist. That matters, because a lot of the early chatter online muddled it up with other drugs. Foundayo is not a dual agonist like Zepbound (tirzepatide), and it's not the triple agonist retatrutide. More on that below, because the mix-up is everywhere.

The short version:

• Once-daily oral tablet, not injected
• Single GLP-1 receptor agonist
• Made by Eli Lilly
• FDA-approved April 1, 2026 for chronic weight management in adults
• The second oral GLP-1 for weight loss, after the Wegovy pill landed in December 2025

How to take Foundayo

This is the part people on the injection will notice. Foundayo has no food or water rules (Drugs.com). You take it once a day, any time of day, with or without food. That's a real difference from the other pill on the scene, the Wegovy pill (oral semaglutide), which has to be taken on an empty stomach first thing with strict timing.

Swallow the tablet whole, and don't break, crush or chew it. One tablet a day at most.

The Foundayo dose chart

You start low and step up, at least 30 days at each dose, so your stomach has time to adjust. From 5.5 mg, your prescriber decides whether to go higher, based on how it's working and how you're feeling.

Missed doses and other medicines

• Missed a tablet: take it as soon as you can. Don't take two the next day to make up.
• Missed 7 or more days in a row: talk to your prescriber before you restart. The label says to start again at a lower dose, to cut the risk of stomach side effects.
• Some other medicines change Foundayo: avoid it with strong CYP3A4 blockers that also block OATP1B, such as ritonavir (in some HIV medicines and in Paxlovid). With other strong CYP3A4 blockers (certain antifungals and antibiotics, for example), the label caps Foundayo at 9 mg a day. Avoid strong CYP3A4 inducers such as carbamazepine, which can stop it working well. If you take simvastatin, the label says not to go above 20 mg a day. Tell your prescriber and pharmacist everything you take.
• Birth control pills: the label advises switching to a method that isn't a pill, or adding a barrier method such as condoms, for 30 days after you start and for 30 days after each dose increase.

How well it works

According to the FDA label, in the 72-week ATTAIN-1 trial, counting everyone who started (including people who stopped), people lost 11.1% of their body weight on average on 17.2 mg, 8.3% on 9 mg and 7.4% on 5.5 mg, against 2.1% on placebo. That's the figure to compare with other medicines, because their labels count the same way.

It's not the 20%-plus numbers you may have seen floating around. Those belong to different drugs: Zepbound's injection trial, or retatrutide, which isn't approved at all (more on that below). Roughly speaking, Foundayo sits a little below the weekly injections and the Wegovy pill. Those are separate trials with different patients, though, so treat it as a ballpark, not a head-to-head.

Foundayo side effects by dose

Like the injections, Foundayo's common side effects are in your stomach and gut, and they get more likely at higher doses. Here's how often people reported each one in the trials, next to placebo.

And tell any doctor planning surgery or a procedure with anesthesia or deep sedation that you take Foundayo, because it slows how fast your stomach empties.

Foundayo vs Zepbound, Wegovy, and the Wegovy pill

Here's the thing worth getting straight: the US now has four main GLP-1 options for weight loss, two injections and two pills. (Saxenda, an older daily GLP-1 injection, is still approved, but it's rarely the first pick these days.) Foundayo is the newest. This table lines them up, using each FDA label's main analysis, which counts everyone who started. The figures come from separate trials with different people, so read them as a rough guide, not a scoreboard.

Two quick reads on this. First, if a pill is what you want, Foundayo and the Wegovy pill are your two choices, and the Wegovy pill has edged ahead on average weight loss in its trial (OASIS 4). Foundayo's trade is convenience: any time of day, food or no food, versus the Wegovy pill's empty-stomach timing. Second, the weekly injections still tend to deliver more weight loss on average, so a pill is often about fit and tolerability rather than chasing the biggest number.

One naming aside, because it trips people up: in the US, tirzepatide for weight loss is Zepbound, and Mounjaro is the diabetes brand of the same drug. (In the UK it's all sold as Mounjaro, so ignore UK-written dosing advice about brands.) If you're on Zepbound and want a cleaner way to keep track of your weekly dose ladder, we wrote a Zepbound dose tracking guide.

Foundayo is not retatrutide

This is the one worth reading twice, because the internet keeps conflating them. Foundayo (orforglipron) and retatrutide are two completely different drugs.

• Foundayo / orforglipron: an oral, once-daily, single GLP-1 pill. FDA-approved April 2026. You can get it now.
• Retatrutide: a weekly injectable triple agonist (GLP-1, GIP, and glucagon), still in trials. It is not approved by the FDA or anyone else, and it's the drug behind those eye-catching 25%-plus weight-loss numbers (Drugs.com).

So if a headline promised you 25% weight loss from a pill you can buy today, it was blending two stories. The Lilly pill you can buy is Foundayo, at 11.1% on average in its main trial, according to the label. Retatrutide's bigger numbers are real trial data, but the drug itself is not on the market, and anything sold online as "retatrutide" right now is unapproved research-grade material. Be careful with that.

What it costs and how to get it

Quick version, checked October 5, 2026. US GLP-1 pricing has moved more than once this year, so verify the current number on foundayo.lilly.com before you commit.

• Self-pay through LillyDirect: $149 a month for the 0.8 mg and 2.5 mg doses, $199 for 5.5 mg, and $299 for 9 mg and up. The 2.5 mg and 5.5 mg prices are offers that end December 31, 2026, and the top two doses keep the $299 price only if you refill within 45 days. Prescriptions have been accepted since launch and it ships direct, with retail pharmacies and telehealth carrying it too (Lilly).
• Commercial insurance: with coverage plus Lilly's savings card, some people pay as little as $25 a month. The card legally excludes anyone on Medicare, Medicaid, or TRICARE.
• Medicare: from July 1, 2026, the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge lets eligible Part D enrollees get Foundayo at a flat $50 monthly copay, running through the end of 2027 (CMS). Traditional Part D still doesn't cover weight-loss drugs outside that program, and Medicaid coverage is state-by-state (KFF).

For a full breakdown of what Foundayo, Zepbound, and the Wegovy options run through each channel, see our US GLP-1 prices guide. The short story: whichever route you use, keep a clean record of refills and dose changes, because savings programs and self-pay tiers often hinge on timing.

Tracking it in Healthcount

Foundayo is a daily tablet, so you log it like any other oral GLP-1: a once-a-day dose in mg, with your titration steps recorded so you can see exactly when you moved up and how your body reacted each time. That history is worth more than it sounds. When your appointment rolls around, you're not reconstructing three months from memory in the waiting room, you're showing your prescriber a real timeline.

If you're switching from an injection, keeping weight, food, doses, and side effects in one place makes the handover cleaner. You can see what your appetite and the scale did on the injection, then watch how the pill compares over the same kind of window. No guesswork, no "I think it was around then."

FAQs

Is Foundayo the same as retatrutide?

No. Foundayo is orforglipron, an oral once-daily single GLP-1 pill approved by the FDA on April 1, 2026. Retatrutide is a different, still-investigational weekly injection that isn't approved anywhere.

What is the brand name for orforglipron?

Foundayo. Orforglipron is sold in the US as Foundayo, a once-daily GLP-1 pill made by Eli Lilly and approved by the FDA on April 1, 2026.

Is Foundayo a GLP-1?

Yes. Foundayo (orforglipron) is a GLP-1 receptor agonist, taken as a tablet once a day.

Is orforglipron a peptide?

No. Orforglipron is a small molecule, not a peptide, which is why it can be swallowed as a tablet and taken with or without food.

Is Foundayo a pill or an injection?

A pill. It's a once-daily tablet you swallow, taken any time of day with or without food or water.

How much weight can you lose on Foundayo?

In the main 72-week trial, counting everyone who started, people on the highest dose lost 11.1% of their body weight on average, against 2.1% on placebo. Your result depends on your dose, how long you stay on it, and everything else going on in your life.

What are the Foundayo doses?

It starts at 0.8 mg once a day. After at least 30 days it goes to 2.5 mg, then after at least 30 more days to 5.5 mg. Your prescriber can then raise it to 9 mg, 14.5 mg or 17.2 mg, at least 30 days apart. 17.2 mg is the maximum.

What if I miss a dose of Foundayo?

Take it as soon as you remember, and don't take two to make up. If you miss 7 or more days in a row, talk to your prescriber, because the label says to restart at a lower dose.

Is there a Zepbound pill?

No. Zepbound (tirzepatide) only comes as an injection. Lilly's weight-loss pill is Foundayo, which is a different medicine, orforglipron.

Is Foundayo better than the Wegovy pill?

Not simply better. The Wegovy pill showed more average weight loss in its trial, but it needs empty-stomach timing. Foundayo can be taken any time of day with or without food. Which one fits comes down to your routine, tolerability, and what your prescriber and insurance support.

How much does Foundayo cost?

As of October 5, 2026, LillyDirect self-pay runs $149 to $299 a month depending on dose. With commercial insurance and Lilly's savings card, some people pay as little as $25. Medicare's GLP-1 Bridge offers a flat $50 copay for eligible Part D enrollees through 2027. Prices change often, so confirm the current number before you commit.