Eli Lilly launches oral weight-loss pill Foundayo in UK

Aug 24 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly said on Monday it has launched its oral pill, Foundayo, in the UK for weight management and type 2 diabetes, making it the first country in Europe where the treatment is available.

Here are some details: 

• The pill, known chemically as orforglipron, will be available via private prescription after Britain's medicines regulator authorised the drug on August 10, making it the second GLP-1 oral pill to be cleared in the UK after Novo Nordisk's Wegovy.

• Lilly said it was working with England's health cost-effectiveness watchdog, the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE), on a potential roll-out at the state-run National Health Service.

• Lilly said Foundayo will likely be priced between £100 and £120, lower than its Mounjaro injection's £330 for a month's supply.

• Foundayo remains under review in the European Union, while Novo's Wegovy pill has won a positive recommendation from the European Medicines Agency, with a final decision from the European Commission pending.

(Reporting by Raechel Thankam Job in Bengaluru; Editing by Leroy Leo)