More than 20,000 people have started taking Eli Lilly‘s GLP-1 pill Foundayo in its first few weeks on the market, Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told CNBC on Thursday.
The FDA approved Lilly’s once-daily pill Foundayo earlier this month, making it the second oral GLP-1 drug behind Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill. Investors have been closely tracking weekly prescriptions for clues on how the launch is going.
More than 1,000 people are starting Foundayo a day, Ricks said in an exclusive interview with CNBC. He said it’ll take time to build the brand since it’s a new drug that doctors and patients don’t know. He contrasted it against the launch of the company’s Zepbound weight loss injection, which had the same active ingredient as its existing diabetes drug, Mounjaro, and against Novo’s Wegovy pill, which had the same brand name and active ingredient as the shot.
“So what we’re seeing now is basically organic demand, which is pretty strong to us,” Ricks said.
“This is going to play out over quarters, not days, and I just ask people to take a beat and let us execute,” Ricks said. “I think it’s going to be just fine.”
More than 80% of people taking Foundayo are new to GLP-1s, he said.
Ricks spoke to CNBC after Eli Lilly posted first-quarter earnings and revenue that easily beat expectations. Due to the timing of the launch, Foundayo was not included in the results.
During the quarter, sales of Mounjaro and Zepbound spiked 125% and 80%, respectively.
Eli Lilly is trying to maintain its dominance in the GLP-1 market following the successful launch of Novo Nordisk’s oral drug. It held a 60.1% share of the U.S. obesity and diabetes drug market in the first quarter, versus 39.4% for Novo Nordisk, according to an earnings presentation.
