Novo Nordisk has received European Commission marketing authorization for its Wegovy pill, giving the Danish drugmaker another significant head start over rival Eli Lilly.
The approval covers adults with obesity or who are overweight, making Wegovy the first GLP-1 receptor agonist available in tablet form across Europe.
Eli Lilly’s competing oral GLP-1 drug, Foundayo, is still under review by European regulators, with no confirmed launch date yet confirmed on the continent.
Novo has already established a similar advantage in the United States, where its Wegovy pill launched three months before Foundayo, a gap that has proven commercially decisive.
Weekly IQVIA prescription data underlines just how dominant that lead has become, with Wegovy logging 153,000 weekly U.S. prescriptions compared with just 19,550 for Foundayo.
Foundayo’s figure was recorded during its 13th week on the market, suggesting Lilly faces a steep climb to close the gap in the near term.
Lilly’s International President Patrik Jonsson told Reuters that a European launch of Foundayo could come by the end of the year or in early 2027, though he noted that U.S. President Donald Trump’s most favoured nations pricing policy “will play a role for all launches.”
In the Oasis clinical trial, a daily 25-mg dose of the Wegovy pill produced 17% weight loss compared with 3% for placebo, with one in three patients losing at least 20% of their body weight.
Novo reported $355 million in first-quarter sales of the Wegovy pill, reflecting strong early commercial momentum for the product since its U.S. launch.
Mike Doustdar, CEO of Novo Nordisk, described the European Commission decision as a pivotal moment for patients across the region, saying in a release: “Obesity is a serious chronic disease, and choice can make a real difference.”
“For many people, a tablet may be a simpler and more acceptable way to start and continue treatment,” Doustdar added, calling the approval “more than a regulatory milestone.”
Novo framed the European clearance as a broader public health achievement, describing it as “a strong societal response to one of Europe’s most significant health challenges.”