Eli Lilly GLP-1 Oral Drug Approved by FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved Eli Lilly's (960.09, 40.32, 4.38%) GLP-1 oral drug, a pharmaceutical company based in Indianapolis stated that this is an important milestone and will also test the market prospects of new weight loss drugs.

Eli Lilly announced that its oral drug named Foundayo would begin shipping from its direct-to-consumer platform LillyDirect on Monday, and 'soon after' would be available at pharmacies and telemedicine platforms. Insured patients would pay $25 per month with Eli Lilly's coupon, while uninsured patients would pay between $149 to $349 per month depending on the dosage.

This approval came just months after Eli Lilly submitted the application to the FDA, which is a fast-track review for drugs considered national priorities. This means Eli Lilly's launch of Foundayo will be only about three months behind Novo Nordisk's (36.92, 0.17, 0.46%) Wegovy oral drug, setting the stage for another round of competition between these two rivals in the next frontier of GLP-1 drugs.

'It is a significant moment,' Dave Ricks, Eli Lilly's CEO, said in an interview with CNBC. 'We have been working in this class of drugs for a long time, launching our first GLP-1 drug 20 years ago and constantly improving it. Now, although this option is not the most effective... it is more accessible and easier to integrate into daily life.'