Foundayo vs Wegovy pill: the two GLP-1 tablets compared from their labels

Foundayo and the Wegovy pill are two once-daily GLP-1 tablets FDA has approved for weight management. They come from different companies, contain different molecules and follow different rules for when and how to swallow them. Everything below comes from the two FDA prescribing informations: the Foundayo label revised 7/2026 (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026) and the Wegovy label revised 6/2026, which covers both the injection and the tablets (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). For the molecule behind Wegovy, see the semaglutide hub. This page compares facts; it does not recommend one pill over the other.

Side-by-side comparison table

Sources: Foundayo label (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026), Foundayo approval letter (FDA, Apr 1, 2026), Lilly approval release (Eli Lilly, Apr 1, 2026), Wegovy label (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026), Novo Nordisk approval release (Novo Nordisk, Dec 22, 2025), Wegovy tablets approval record (FDA, Oct 19, 2026).

Orforglipron was discovered by Chugai and licensed to Lilly in 2018 (Eli Lilly, Apr 1, 2026). FDA approved Foundayo 50 days after filing, under the Commissioner’s National Priority Voucher pilot (FDA, Apr 1, 2026). The Wegovy pill was approved about three months earlier, on Dec 22, 2025 (Novo Nordisk, Dec 22, 2025).

Dose ladders compared

Both pills start low and step up roughly once a month. The difference is in the number of steps and in how firmly the label fixes them.

The Foundayo day ranges are the earliest each step can begin. The label says “at least 30 days” between steps, and the moves above 5.5 mg depend on how a person responds and tolerates the drug. Foundayo’s label names a maximum of 17.2 mg but no separate maintenance dose (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). Wegovy tablets reach their 25 mg maintenance dose from day 91 at the earliest (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026).

The Wegovy label also covers switching. “One week after discontinuing WEGOVY 2.4 mg injection, initiate 25 mg of WEGOVY tablets orally once daily” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). Our Foundayo sources give no conversion from any injection, and the Foundayo label says use with another GLP-1 receptor agonist is not recommended (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). The full step-by-step pages are the Foundayo dosing schedule and the Wegovy dosing schedule, which also covers the weekly injection.

Taking them in daily life

This is where the two pills differ most. Foundayo has almost no timing rules. Wegovy tablets have strict ones.

Sources: (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026) (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026)

The Wegovy label reads: “Take one WEGOVY tablet orally once daily on an empty stomach in the morning with water (up to 4 ounces).” It adds: “Do not take WEGOVY tablets with other liquids besides water,” and the patient should “wait at least 30 minutes before eating food, drinking beverages or taking other oral medications” (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). In practice that means the tablet comes first in the morning, before coffee, breakfast or other morning pills.

The Foundayo label says: “Take FOUNDAYO orally once daily, with or without food.” It sets no water-volume or timing rule (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). Its pharmacology section reports no clinically relevant food effect. In a study with an investigational 37.5 mg tablet, food lowered total exposure (AUC) by 19% and peak level (Cmax) by 26% (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026).

Oral contraceptives and other medicines

The Foundayo label has a specific note for people who use birth-control pills. It says to switch to a non-oral method, or add a barrier method, for 30 days after starting Foundayo and for 30 days after each dose increase (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). With five possible increases on the ladder, that window can recur several times in the first months.

Orforglipron is broken down mainly by the liver enzyme CYP3A4. The Foundayo label lists several interaction limits (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026):

• Strong CYP3A4 inhibitors that also inhibit OATP1B: avoid.
• Other strong CYP3A4 inhibitors: maximum Foundayo dose of 9 mg.
• Strong CYP3A4 inducers: avoid.
• Simvastatin: do not exceed 20 mg a day.

For Wegovy tablets, the administration rule above is itself an interaction rule: other oral medicines wait at least 30 minutes after the tablet (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). This page does not list other Wegovy tablet interactions because they are not in our verified sources. Bring a full medicine list to your prescriber or pharmacist for either pill.

Missed doses

Sources: (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026) (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026)

The Wegovy rule is the simpler one: no make-up tablet later in the day, just the next scheduled dose. Ask your prescriber how to restart after any long gap.

Trial results

Each label reports its own placebo-controlled trial. Our sources include no head-to-head trial of Foundayo vs Wegovy tablets.

Sources: (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026) (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026)

Read this table with care. The trials differ in population, duration and analysis. Foundayo Trial 1 enrolled 3,127 adults without diabetes and ran 72 weeks; Wegovy Study 7 ran 64 weeks. A treatment-regimen estimand and an intention-to-treat analysis both count everyone randomized, including people who stopped the drug, but the two trials still enrolled different people, for different lengths of time, at different doses. Cross-trial differences of a few percentage points are not evidence that one pill works better.

Two more Foundayo figures need labels. In Trial 1, 71.5% on 17.2 mg reached at least 5% weight loss vs 26.8% on placebo, at week 72 by the same estimand (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). Lilly’s headline 12.4% for the top dose is the efficacy estimand, which assumes everyone stayed on treatment; by the treatment-regimen estimand it is 11.1% (Eli Lilly, Apr 1, 2026). Trial 2 enrolled 1,613 adults with type 2 diabetes, but type 2 diabetes is not an approved Foundayo indication (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026).

Half-life and what daily dosing means

Half-life is the time it takes for the amount of drug in the body to fall by half. The two molecules differ a lot here.

• Foundayo: “approximately 29 to 49 hours after an oral dose.” Peak levels come 4 to 8 hours after a dose, steady state is reached in about 1 week, and absolute bioavailability was 77% at the 0.8 mg dose (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026).
• Wegovy tablets: semaglutide has an elimination half-life of about 1 week (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026).

What this means in plain terms: both drugs are taken daily, but semaglutide stays in the body far longer than each daily interval, so its level builds up slowly over weeks and changes little from one day to the next. Orforglipron’s level falls by half roughly every one to two days, so it reaches a plateau within about a week. Neither label turns this into advice about late or missed tablets beyond the rules in the missed-dose table, so follow those rules rather than the half-life.

Our semaglutide plotter models how a 7-day half-life builds up on the weekly Wegovy injection ladder, and the semaglutide titration calculator puts that weekly ladder on a calendar. Both tools model weekly injection schedules; neither models daily tablets or orforglipron.

Who each is approved for

Sources: (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026) (FDA, Apr 1, 2026) (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026) (Novo Nordisk, Dec 22, 2025)

Foundayo is approved as an adjunct to a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity “to reduce excess body weight and maintain weight reduction long term.” It covers adults with obesity, or adults with overweight and at least one weight-related condition. The indication itself names no BMI cut-off (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). The label states that safety and effectiveness have not been established in pediatric patients. FDA’s approval letter deferred studies in ages 6 to 11 and 12 to 17 (FDA, Apr 1, 2026).

Foundayo carries a boxed warning about thyroid C-cell tumors. It is contraindicated with a personal or family history of medullary thyroid carcinoma or MEN 2 (Eli Lilly, Jul 29, 2026). The Wegovy label says the safety and effectiveness of Wegovy tablets have not been established in pediatric patients, although the injection is approved for ages 12 and older (Novo Nordisk, Jun 18, 2026). Review the full warnings in each label with your prescriber.

Cost and savings

This page lists no prices. Both makers run self-pay and commercial savings programs, and their terms change often. Current, dated figures are on two dedicated pages:

• The Foundayo savings card guide covers Lilly’s programs for Foundayo.
• The Wegovy savings card guide covers Novo Nordisk’s programs for Wegovy.

Coverage depends on your plan, and a plan may treat a pill differently from an injection of the same brand. For a broader brand comparison, see Wegovy vs Zepbound.

Talk to your prescriber

The labels support a few plain conclusions. Both pills are once-daily GLP-1 medicines for adult weight management. Foundayo fits around meals; Wegovy tablets need a fixed, empty-stomach morning routine. Foundayo has more dose steps and a contraception rule tied to each increase. Semaglutide’s half-life is about a week; orforglipron’s is 29 to 49 hours. Our sources include no head-to-head trial of the two.

Which pill fits depends on your health history, other medicines, daily routine and coverage. That is a decision for you and your prescriber, not for a comparison table. Compounded or unapproved versions of either drug are not FDA-approved Foundayo or Wegovy and are not interchangeable with them.