You may have seen headlines that the UK was the first in Europe to authorise Orforglipron for weight management.
The good news is that now Foundayo, that contains the active ingredient Orforglipron, is available for purchase with private prescription from online pharmacies like Oxford Online Pharmacy.
Here is what we know so far, how this medicine compares with existing treatments like Wegovy and Mounjaro, and whether it’s worth waiting for.
In this article:
When could Foundayo launch in the UK?
Why isn’t Foundayo available in the UK right now?
What needs to happen before Foundayo can be prescribed?
Will Foundayo be available on the NHS?
How does Foundayo compare to current UK treatments?
Who might prefer Foundayo when it becomes available?
Should you wait or start a different GLP-1 now?
Visit our range of weight loss tablets to explore the options currently available in the UK.
When will Foundayo launch in the UK?
Foundayo is now available for purchase in the UK with a private prescription. However, based on current regulatory progress, the timeline is likely to look like this:
Private prescribing: In the latter half of 2026 (August onwards)
NHS prescribing: Unlikely before 2027 at the earliest, following a separate NICE review
New medicines often become available privately first. This is because MHRA approval allows doctors and online pharmacies to prescribe a treatment, while NHS availability depends on an additional assessment by NICE to decide whether the medicine should be funded by the health service.
Because these two decisions happen separately, there is usually a gap between private and NHS access for newly approved treatments.
What needs to happen before Foundayo can be prescribed on the NHS?
Before a new medication like Foundayo can be made available on the NHS, there is a strict process designed to make sure treatments are safe, effective, and represent good value before they're rolled out to NHS patients. The typical step-by-step process from approval to NHS prescribing looks like this:
Licensing (MHRA)
Before a medicine can be prescribed anywhere in the UK, it needs a licence from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA), confirming it's safe and effective for a specific use, based on clinical trial evidence.
Cost-effectiveness assessment (NICE)
Next, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) reviews whether the medicine is clinically effective and good value for the NHS compared to existing treatments. If NICE recommends it, the NHS is normally required to fund it (usually within 90 days).
Local rollout planning
For medicines expected to be prescribed to very large numbers of people, NHS England (or the equivalent body in Scotland, Wales, and Northern Ireland) may agree a phased implementation plan with NICE, prioritising which patients get access first while services build capacity.
4. Formulary and practice-level access
Finally, local NHS organisations (Integrated Care Boards, hospital trusts, and GP practices) set up the practical means for patients to access it, such as GP prescribing or specialist weight management services.
To give you a real-word example, here's how this worked in practice for Mounjaro weight loss injections:
November 2023: The MHRA licenses tirzepatide for weight loss and weight management in adults with obesity or overweight with a weight-related health condition (11).
June 2024: NICE's independent appraisal committee issues draft guidance recommending tirzepatide for weight management, based on evidence including the SURMOUNT-4 trial, which showed patients lost an average of 21% of their bodyweight over 36 weeks alongside diet and exercise support (12,15).
23 December 2024: NICE publishes final guidance, TA1026, recommending tirzepatide for adults with a BMI of at least 35 and at least one weight-related comorbidity, with adjusted (lower) BMI thresholds for people from some minority ethnic backgrounds (13).
27 March 2025: Given the scale of the eligible population (an estimated 3.4 million people), NHS England publishes guidance setting out a phased three-year rollout rather than the standard 90-day NHS funding requirement (14).
23 June 2025 (180 days after final guidance): Integrated Care Boards– the NHS body in England responsible for planning and funding health services for a specific area– become required to fund tirzepatide in primary care settings for the first prioritised patients (14).
From 1 April 2026: Tirzepatide prescribing in general practice is incorporated into the GP contract through new Quality and Outcomes Framework indicators — though individual GP practices are not mandated to prescribe it, so access still varies by practice.
So from MHRA licensing for weight management to the first NHS patients accessing it in primary care took roughly 19 months, and full rollout across all eligible patients is still being phased in over several years. This is a helpful reminder for patients that a "yes" from NICE doesn't mean instant access everywhere, and that eligibility and timing can vary by area, availability, personal circumstance, and different ICB and GP practice.
How does Foundayo compare with current UK treatments?
In clinical trials, people taking Orforglipron lost around 11 to 12% of their body weight on average over 72 weeks (3,4). That’s lower on average than injectable GLP-1 medicines like Mounjaro and Wegovy, but above the average seen with licenced obesity tablets like Orlistat (8,9,10).
The main difference is how these treatments are taken. Wegovy and Mounjaro are weekly injections, while orlistat is taken as a capsule with meals. Orforglipron is designed as a once-daily tablet that can be taken without food restrictions, offering the convenience of a tablet treatment but working through the same appetite-regulating GLP-1 pathway as injectable medicines (4).
For people who feel unsure about injections, this may make treatment feel easier. However, there is another important difference to keep in mind: Wegovy and Mounjaro are already available in the UK following a clinical assessment, while Orforglipron cannot yet be prescribed here.
Who might prefer Foundayo?
Although it is not yet available in the UK, Foundayo may be a good fit for some people once it is approved by the MHRA. It may be particularly appealing if you:
Feel unsure about using injections
Would prefer a daily tablet instead of a weekly treatment
Want a GLP-1 option without strict timing requirements around meals
Are planning to start treatment later in the year rather than immediately
For others, however, starting with an established treatment that is already available may feel like the more practical choice. Injectable options such as Wegovy and Mounjaro are widely prescribed in the UK and can support significant weight loss when used alongside lifestyle changes.
If injections feel like a barrier, there are also tablet-based weight loss treatments like Orlistat that may be suitable for some people. These work differently from GLP-1 medicines but can still support weight management following a clinical assessment.
Should you wait for Foundayo on the NHS or start a different GLP-1 now?
Whether to wait for Foundayo or start treatment sooner is a personal decision. Some people may prefer to wait, especially if injections do not feel like the right option or if they have already tried other treatments without success. A once-daily tablet may feel like a better fit.
But for most people living with obesity, starting treatment sooner may be more appropriate. Even after its recent approval, prescribing guidance will determine who is eligible, so it may not be suitable for everyone.
Because excess weight can affect long-term health, it may be helpful to arrange a weight loss consultation now to explore the options already available while newer treatments like Orforglipron continue through the approval process.
What can you do now?
You might want to wait for NHS availability or access Foundayo on private prescription. You can also exploring the many different weight loss treatment options already available to help you decide whether to begin treatment now or wait for future medicines to complete the approval process.
Oxford Online Pharmacy offers a range of clinically approved weight loss treatments that can be safely prescribed online following a simple assessment. One of our independent doctors will review your medical history to help determine which may be safe and appropriate for you.
Visit our weight loss tablets page to explore the options currently available in the UK.
References
FDA Office. FDA Approves First New Molecular Entity Under National Priority Voucher Program [Internet]. US Food and Drug Administration. 2026.
Lilly’s oral GLP-1, orforglipron, is successful in third Phase 3 trial, triggering global regulatory submissions this year for the treatment of obesity | Eli Lilly and Company [Internet]. Eli Lilly and Company. 2024.
Wharton S, Aronne LJ, Stefanski A, Alfaris NF, Ciudin A, Yokote K, et al. Orforglipron, an Oral Small-Molecule GLP-1 Receptor Agonist for Obesity Treatment. New England Journal of Medicine. 2025 Sep 16;
Eli Lilly and Company. Lilly's oral GLP-1, orforglipron, demonstrated meaningful weight loss and cardiometabolic improvements in complete ATTAIN-1 results published in the New England Journal of Medicine [Internet]. Eli Lilly and Company; 2025.
Horn DB, Ryan DH, Kis SG, Alves B, Mu Y, Kim SG, et al. Orforglipron, an oral small-molecule GLP-1 receptor agonist, for the treatment of obesity in people with type 2 diabetes (ATTAIN-2): a phase 3, double-blind, randomised, multicentre, placebo-controlled trial. The Lancet [Internet]. 2025 Nov;
Lintern S. No more needles — a weight-loss pill is on its way to Britain [Internet]. Thetimes.com. The Sunday Times; 2025 [cited 2026 Apr 16].
NHS England. Medicines for obesity [Internet]. England.nhs.uk. 2024.
Jastreboff AM, Aronne LJ, Ahmad NN, Wharton S, Connery L, Alves B, et al. Tirzepatide once weekly for the treatment of obesity. New England Journal of Medicine. 2022;387(3):205–16.
Wilding JPH, Batterham RL, Calanna S. Once-Weekly Semaglutide in Adults with Overweight or Obesity. The New England Journal of Medicine [Internet]. 2021 Feb 10;384(11):989–1002.
Shraboni Ghosal, Heron N, Mason K, Jordan K. Efficacy of Orlistat in type 2 diabetes – a systematic review and meta analysis. BJGP Open [Internet]. 2025 Jun 5;BJGPO.2025.0058–8.
MHRA authorises diabetes drug Mounjaro (tirzepatide) for weight management and weight loss. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency [Internet]. 2023.
NICE describes how weight loss drug tirzepatide will be rolled out. NICE [Internet]. 2024.
Tirzepatide for managing overweight and obesity [TA1026]. NICE [Internet]. 2024.
Interim commissioning guidance: implementation of the NICE technology appraisal TA1026 and the NICE funding variation for tirzepatide (Mounjaro®) for the management of obesity. NHS England [Internet]. 2025.
Aronne LJ, Sattar N, Horn DB, Bays HE, Wharton S, Lin WY, Ahmad NN, Zhang S, Liao R, Bunck MC, Jouravskaya I, Murphy MA; SURMOUNT-4 Investigators. Continued Treatment With Tirzepatide for Maintenance of Weight Reduction in Adults With Obesity: The SURMOUNT-4 Randomized Clinical Trial. JAMA [Internet]. 2024;331(1):38-48.