From shots to pills, GLP-1s grow more accessible

The Ozempic era just got a lot easier to swallow.

Last week, Eli Lilly received FDA approval for its once-daily obesity pill, setting up a head-to-head race with Novo Nordisk, whose own Wegovy obesity pill hit the market earlier this year.

This isn’t round one. Novo pioneered GLP-1 diabetes and weight-loss shots with Ozempic and Wegovy, but Lilly came back swinging with Zepbound and Mounjaro, both of which are now outselling their Novo counterparts.

However, the new GLP-1 pills have flipped the script.

• Novo’s version, called Foundayo, currently shows stronger weight-loss results in trials compared to its rival.
• Meanwhile, Lilly is betting fewer restrictions and easier daily use will draw more users to its Wegovy pill.

Weight-loss market fattens up

GLP-1 drugs are already a $70+ billion market globally, mostly from injections. But a lot of would-be users have yet to get on board, with some preferring to avoid needles and others not seeing their weight as problematic enough to warrant an injection.

Both companies are betting there’s a large untapped market of overweight people who would favor a once-a-day pill instead. And early data backs up those assumptions.

The Wegovy pill racked up 94,000+ US prescriptions just weeks after launch in mid-January, with many of them for people who haven’t ever taken a weight-loss shot.

Big picture: GLP-1 usage in the US has increased by ~587% between 2019 and 2024, with roughly 1 in 8 US adults saying they’ve tried them at least once.