It’s here. The first no-fuss once-daily GLP-1 pill for weight loss, Eli Lilly’s Foundayo, was approved by the US Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday.
It’s a watershed moment for the type 2 diabetes and weight loss industry. Until now, patients taking the new class of GLP-1 drugs have had to choose from either a weekly injection that’s stored in the refrigerator, like Ozempic, Wegovy, or Zepbound, or swallow a once-daily pill that requires patients to take it first thing in the morning on an empty stomach with a small glass of water (Rybelsus or Wegovy pill, from Novo Nordisk).
This new medicine, generically called orforgipron, is a big win for Eli Lilly, potentially unlocking a worldwide market of millions more patients who want the convenience of a daily pill they can slot into their existing medicine regimen, at any hour of the day.
What it’s like to take Foundayo: less hunger, slower digestion
Adam Salberg was one of the first patients to try the pill out in real life. The 59-year-old from New Jersey got a sneak peek at what it’s like to be on this new medication when he participated in an 18-month clinical trial Eli Lilly conducted in 2024 and 2025 to gauge safety and efficacy.
Salberg heard about the clinical trial in an email. He had tried losing weight many times before, but nothing seemed to stick.
“I thought I was doing things right with exercise and a balanced diet, but I was never, ever really satisfied with the weight management I was able to maintain on my own,” Salberg told Business Insider.
So, he enrolled in the trial, hoping for something different. He liked the idea of a daily pill that he could take alongside his other prescription medications. It made it easy to slot this new routine into his existing regimen.
“I travel a lot for work,” he said. “I already had oral medication I was taking, so it was just very simple to add it.”
For the first five days he was on the medication, Salberg didn’t notice anything remarkable happening. The first time he noticed something different was at dinner, on that fifth night.
“We were just having a good meal, I think it was roast chicken,” he said. “I had about a portion, and then realized I was perfectly satisfied. I didn’t need any more food, and I was able to just comfortably set it aside. Then I realized: wait a minute, I’ve never done that before!”
His biggest side effect: slow digestion
Salberg said he could feel his digestive system slowing down, making him feel fuller faster than before. What used to be a normal portion was simply too much food now. It was surprising, he said, having 50-plus years of eating habits shift like that overnight.
GLP-1 drugs work by mimicking a hunger-regulating hormone we produce naturally (called glucagon-like peptide 1) that makes us feel full. The drugs are more powerful than our own hunger hormone, though, lasting longer, slowing down our digestion, and improving blood sugar control.
Other common side effects of the drug patients experience include:
- Nausea (in 29-34% of patients, depending on the dosage)
- Constipation (22-25%)
- Diarrhea (21-23%)
- and vomiting (13-24%)
Over the course of the trial, Salberg committed to other healthy lifestyle changes. He made it a habit to go to the gym roughly three days a week for a mix of cardio and strength training, which doctors generally recommend to patients on GLP-1 drugs to help prevent muscle wasting. And he improved his diet, swapping out more red meat and saturated fats for lean proteins like roasted chicken or grilled fish, plus lots of vegetables on the side, a healthy, Mediterranean-style diet plan many dietitians recommend.
He lost 25 pounds and has kept most of it off
After two months, Salberg had lost seven pounds. The next month, he shed five more. By the end of the trial, he’d stabilized at a new weight, 25 pounds lighter than he’d been before. He tightened his belt loop up by two notches.
“It absolutely helped with losing weight, there’s no doubt,” he said.
Once the trial was over, Salberg did notice his old appetite kick back in, after about six weeks without any medication in his system. But he said he’s been able to maintain most of the weight loss he accomplished on the trial.
“A little bit did come back, but nowhere close to where I was,” he said. He credits the weight maintenance to continued portion control and healthy movement.
Now that Foundayo is on the market, he’s planning to chat to his doctor about possibly getting back on the medication. If it’s covered by insurance, the pill could cost him as little as $25 a month. Eli Lilly is also selling the pill directly on its website, with cash pay prices of $149 to $349 a month, depending on the dose.
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