Eli Lilly and company, the pharmaceutical giant headquartered in Indianapolis, does not miss an opportunity. They have top notch researchers and brilliant executives and are always coming up with new drugs that fill a niche that hasn’t been approached before.
As an example of finding themselves ahead of the competition, I would cite two examples. One: the revolutionary changes that occurred in the treatment of depression when PROZAC (fluoxetine) was introduced. Side effects were diminished, and the drug truly seemed to work. Depressed patients actually noticed they felt better and were less depressed. That led to Prozac being the number one prescribed drug in the US for for over 10 years. AND Two: Lilly’s has always been a leader in the treatment of diabetes as shown by
1. Being the first company to commercially produce and distribute insulin.
2. Having the first insulin that came in short-, intermediate-, and long-acting formulations
3. Being the first to use recombinant DNA technology to produce Human insulin
4. Producing Byetta, the first GLP-1 drug to come to market
5. Producing tirzepatide, an advanced GLP-1 and taking advantage of the two indications for
it: A. Diabetes treatment, so Mounjaro (tirzeparide) was developed
B. Weight loss treatment, so Zepbound (tirzepatide) was developed
These are identical drugs that are promoted differently.
6. Producing the first oral formulation of GLP-1 call orforglipron, Foundayo
Lilly has many other major product-firsts, but these are pertinent for our discussion of orforglipron. Oral administration of medications is always preferable to injections. GLP-1’s such as tirzepatide have prior to recently been sub-q shots taken once a week. When Byetta (exenatide) came into use, however, it was a sub-q injection twice a day. I didn’t prescribe it for that reason. Now, orfogrglipron (Foundayo) comes in 6 dosage strengths and is taken once daily with or without food.
Foundayo was approved by the FDA on April 1, but it definitely was not an April Fool’s joke. In the first week of sales, it was prescribed 1390 times in the US. Foundayo then took off and was prescribed 113,354 times later in one week! The week prior had seen 105,366 prescriptions written.
While patients lose weight on oral orforglipron, the amount of weight loss is 5%-12% less than than achieved by the injection. Being an orally administered drug it gives comfort to patients with “needle phobia,” and “needle fatigue.” Time will tell, of course, if orforglipron offers any other major benefit to the obese patient.
Eli Lilly has hit a grand slam home run once again with their marketing of tirzepatide, and now, orforglipron. There’s no doubt their successes will continue, too. The big benefit here is to the net profits of Lilly and how they affect employees and shareholders. But also the millions of patients who are prescribed tirzepatide and orforglipron will enjoy improved health benefits and better quality of life.
References: Tchang B. Prescribing Orforglipron for Obesity Medscape 2026 April 14.
Roy S. Lilly’s Obesity Pill Draws 1390 US Prescriptions in Launch Week Medscape 2026 April 17.
