By Christy Santhosh
May 1 (Reuters) – Eli Lilly’s newly launched oral weight-loss drug, Foundayo, was prescribed 5,612 times in the U.S. in the third week after its launch, according to analysts citing IQVIA data.
The pill, launched in April, has seen a modest uptake so far compared to rival Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill that was launched in January.
Investors are closely watching the rollout as a key test of whether Lilly can take away market share from Novo, which has had a first-mover advantage in the oral weight-loss drug market.
“On initial look, we believe the prescription data will be perceived negatively by investors,” said RBC Capital Markets analyst Trung Huynh.
“However, based on ~20,000 patients on Foundayo, as of yesterday’s earnings call, it appears there is a capture rate issue with the data”, Huynh added.
Earlier this week, Lilly executives said more than 20,000 patients have been treated with Foundayo, and that the drug has over 8,000 prescribers, a third of whom are new to oral GLP-1 drugs.
Novo’s Wegovy pill was prescribed more than 18,000 times in the U.S. in the first full week after its launch and was most recently prescribed more than 134,000 times in its 16th week.
According to RBC analysts, it will take at least 8 to 12 weeks to get a clearer read on Foundayo’s real commercial momentum, as the early data may be distorted.
“By week 12, we would expect Foundayo to reach more than 90,000 weekly prescriptions to remain on track for average annual sales expectations of about $1.4 billion,” said Huynh.
Foundayo was approved in the U.S. on April 1, with prescriptions accepted immediately on LillyDirect, while shipping started on April 6. Broad availability through U.S. retail pharmacies and telehealth providers began on April 9.
(Reporting by Christy Santhosh in Bengaluru; Editing by Vijay Kishore and Shinjini Ganguli)
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