Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) cleared a notable regulatory hurdle on August 10, when Britain's drug regulator authorized the company's oral GLP-1 drug orforglipron, becoming the first country in Europe to approve the pill. Shares of LLY increased more than 2% in response to the announcement, a modest but insightful reaction for a company whose weight-loss franchise has become the single most important driver of its market value.
The UK's Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency approved orforglipron, offered under the brand name Foundayo, for weight loss and maintenance in obese adults, as well as select overweight individuals with at least one weight-related health condition. The approval also addresses increasing blood sugar control in people with type 2 diabetes.
What sets Foundayo apart from Lilly's other weight-loss medications, as well as the majority of the GLP-1 category in general, is the format. Unlike injectable drugs like Lilly's Zepbound or Novo Nordisk A/S (NYSE:NVO)'s Ozempic, Foundayo is a small, non-peptide GLP-1 receptor agonist that is taken as a single daily tablet. It can also be taken at any time with no food or water restrictions, making it a far more convenient regimen than some oral peptide alternatives that require fasting windows around dosing.
The clinical data that supports the approval is strong. In the ATTAIN-1 trial, which tracked 3,127 individuals with obesity for 72 weeks, participants on the 36 mg dose lost an average of 11.2% of their body weight, as opposed to 2.1% on placebo, and more than half of those on that dose lost at least 10%.
The authorization is crucial, but it is not the final step. Foundayo is not currently available through the NHS in the UK, and the drug's journey to that larger market is through the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, which is completing its own cost-effectiveness study, with a decision expected on November 18. Until NICE decides, UK patients seeking the medicine will have to pay out of pocket or get it privately, a scenario that is already playing out with competing products in the category.

#foundayo #loss #NYSE #regulatory

What happened: Eli Lilly (LLY) stock jumped as much as 7% on Wednesday.
What's behind the move: The drug company raised its 2026 sales forecast after it saw strong demand for GLP-1 drugs in its fiscal second quarter.
Revenue is now expected to fall between $85 billion and $87 billion for the year, topping an earlier forecast of up to $85 billion, according to Bloomberg data.
Adjusted earnings for the second quarter also beat Wall Street estimates.
What else you need to know: Eli Lilly's GLP-1 business has been the growth engine of the drug company, benefiting from several tailwinds since the start of the year, including the FDA's approval of Foundayo, the pill version of its weight-loss drug, earlier this year.

#billion #wednesday

Baron Capital, an investment management company, released its Q2 2026 investor letter for the "Baron Health Care Fund". A copy of the letter is available to download here. The Fund gained 11.99% during the quarter, compared with the 10.48% gain for the Russell 3000 Health Care Index and the 15.44% gain for the Russell 3000 Index. Since inception, the Fund appreciated 10.61% on an annualized basis, compared with 10.02% for the Benchmark and 14.83% for the Index. Strong stock selection in pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, health care equipment, and life sciences tools and services supported the Fund's outperformance, although limited exposure to managed care stocks reduced relative returns. The Fund remains positive on health care due to improving biotechnology funding, strong acquisition activity, recovering managed care margins, and growth from an aging population, chronic disease, medical innovation, and higher health care spending. In addition, please check the Fund's top five holdings to know the best picks in 2026.
In its second-quarter 2026 investor letter, Baron Health Care Fund highlighted Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) as a notable performance contributor. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) discovers, develops, manufactures, and markets human pharmaceutical products in the United States and internationally. On August 03, 2026, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) closed at $1,121.36 per share. The one-month return of Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) was -9.24%, and its shares gained 46.40% over the past 52 weeks. Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) has a market capitalization of $1.06 trillion.
Baron Health Care Fund stated the following regarding Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) in its Q2 2026 investor letter:
"Pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY), currently best known for its diabetes and obesity GLP-1 therapies, contributed to performance as commercial execution and pipeline data reinforced investor confidence in the company's long-term leadership. All three major pharmacy benefit managers now cover Lilly's obesity portfolio, including its new daily oral GLP-1, Foundayo. This marks a reversal from last summer, when CVS Caremark provided preferred coverage for Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and raised concerns about a potential price war. The shift suggests that patients and physicians prefer Zepbound and are driving demand. Clinical trial data further reinforces our view that Lilly has one of the strongest next-generation metabolic pipelines in the industry. Phase 3 data showed retatrutide delivered weight loss in the high-20% range at higher doses and nearly 20% at lower doses, while maintaining excellent tolerability. We are also excited about eloralintide, where Phase 2 data showed Zepbound-like efficacy and tolerability, with combination data expected soon. Long term, we continue to view Lilly's portfolio as the gold standard in a category that we believe can exceed $150 billion."

#Health #investor #letter

For the first time in the program's history, Medicare is covering weight-loss drugs, and the price tag looks almost too good to pass up.
Beginning July 1, eligible Part D enrollees can access medications including Wegovy, Foundayo, and the Zepbound KwikPen for a flat $50 monthly copay through a temporary federal demonstration called the Medicare GLP-1 (glucagon-like peptide-1) Bridge.
That is a massive discount compared to the retail price of these drugs, which can exceed $1,000 per month without insurance coverage.
It arrives at a moment when roughly 56% of GLP-1 users say affordability is a significant challenge, a poll from KFF, the health policy research organization, found.
But this is not traditional Part D coverage, and the distinction creates financial consequences that could blindside enrollees who ******* ume the program works like every other Medicare prescription benefit they have used.

#part #drugs

By Chris Prentice and Mariam Sunny
NEW YORK, July 22 (Reuters) - Many patients have opted for injectable forms of the wildly popular GLP-1 obesity medications through a pilot program of the U.S. government's Medicare health insurance program for Americans aged 65 and older, according to early indications from doctors and ‌analysts.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services this month launched an 18-month trial program that for the first time opens access to Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and ‌Eli Lilly's Foundayo and Zepbound as weight-loss treatment alone for a monthly cost of $50.
Millions of people are expected to qualify, and doctors are already being flooded with interest from patients aged 65 and older. For the most part, they say the process is going well — with some hiccups.
Many pharmaceutical industry experts had expected that patients would prefer pills over injections, for convenience. Novo's U.S. chief Jamey Millar in June said the firm's research indicated that Medicare beneficiaries prefer the oral pill to the injectable on a two-to-one basis.

#medicare #patients #program #older

By Chris Prentice and Amina Niasse
NEW YORK, July 1 (Reuters) - Millions more Americans will qualify for obesity medications at just $50 a month under a new Medicare program starting on Wednesday, bringing the highly effective drugs to people aged 65 and older at an affordable price.
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' 18-month trial program will offer for the first time Novo ‌Nordisk's Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Foundayo and Zepbound as a weight-loss treatment alone.
Medicare, which also covers people with disabilities, has been barred from weight-loss coverage and had paid for the drugs only when ‌prescribed for co-conditions like cardiovascular issues and severe fatty liver disease. Now the program offers three pathways for some Medicare subscribers to qualify for coverage.
Eligible patients are estimated in the single-digit millions, a U.S. official said recently. Wall Street **** ysts estimate that will amount to billions of dollars in revenue for the drugmakers.

LLY needs just 9% to reach $1,200, a figure that sits below the 90%-confidence base case target of $1,280 despite 55% revenue growth.
Foundayo signed up 8,000+ prescribers with 80% of scripts new-to-class, while retatrutide's Phase 3 showed 25 to 37 pounds of weight loss.
Act now: the ****** yst who called NVIDIA in 2010 just named his top 10 AI stocks — and Eli Lilly didn't make the cut. Grab the names FREE today.
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) just reported a quarter that should have sent bulls into a frenzy. Revenue grew 55.5% year over year to $19.80 billion, Mounjaro alone delivered $8.66 billion, and management raised full-year guidance to $82 to $85 billion.
Yet shares are up just 2.57% year to date at $1,098.57. That disconnect is the entire setup for my question: can LLY trade at $1,200 by year-end 2026? I think it can, and the math is closer than most realize.