On August 10, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s weight-loss pill Foundayo won approval in the UK, becoming the first country in Europe to clear the drug for both weight management and type 2 diabetes. It’s only the second GLP-1 pill approved in Europe, arriving two months after Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s Wegovy pill got its own UK approval in June.
Why This Matters
Novo already has a head start in the European pill market and in patient numbers worldwide. Lilly is betting that a pill with no food restrictions can close that gap.
That raises the real question: can Lilly’s convenience edge actually win over doctors and patients fast enough to catch up, or does Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s lead already look too big to close?
The Bull and Bear Case: Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)
Foundayo can be taken at any time of day without food or water restrictions, unlike the Wegovy pill, which must be taken on an empty stomach with a 30-minute wait before eating. Lilly said the drug will launch in the UK later this month through private prescription, priced below Mounjaro’s roughly £330 monthly list price. Foundayo already brought in $98 million in US sales last quarter. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY)’s overall 2026 revenue guidance now sits at $85 billion to $87 billion, up from its earlier forecast, due to strong demand for its weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
Foundayo’s uptake has been much slower than that of the Wegovy pills in the US, something Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) CEO David Ricks has said reflects the time it takes for a brand-new medicine to build trust with doctors and patients. NHS access in the UK isn’t automatic either, since it depends on a coming cost-effectiveness review. That means most early UK patients will have to pay privately. Foundayo is also still under review in the European Union, while the Wegovy pill has already secured a positive recommendation there.
The Bull and Bear Case: Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)
The Wegovy pill has already topped 5 million prescriptions since its January launch, and roughly 300,000 UK patients started taking it within its first three weeks there, according to CEO Mike Doustdar. He said he can picture a future where the obesity market becomes, “to a large extent, a pill market.” Second-quarter sales rose 3% in constant currency to 78.49 billion kroner, with adjusted sales up 7%.
Wegovy pill sales of 3.22 billion kroner missed the 3.33 billion kroner analysts expected. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)’s updated guidance flagged a coming decline in its US business, citing tougher competition and lower realized prices tied to its pricing deal with the Trump administration. Mizuho’s Jared Holz said the lack of upside in pill sales is what sent Novo shares down nearly 6% on the news. Novo has also sued Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) over allegedly deceptive advertising, a sign of how heated this rivalry has become.
Insider Monkey’s Hedge Fund Data
Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was held by 132 hedge funds as of Q1 2026, down from 137. Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO) held steady at 55 hedge fund holders.
For comparison, Bristol-Myers Squibb had 83 hedge fund holders, showing Lilly remains the far more widely held name of the two weight-loss drug rivals.
Conclusion
Lilly’s convenience pitch is real, but Novo’s prescription numbers show just how much ground Lilly still has to make up.
Overall, hedge funds favor Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) over Novo Nordisk.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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