The Emirates Drug Establishment has approved Eli Lilly’s once-daily obesity medicine Foundayo, known chemically as orforglipron, giving patients in the UAE a new oral option for chronic weight management and signalling a regulatory shift towards treatments that move beyond injections. The approval makes the UAE the second country to register the drug, with availability for eligible patients expected from May.
The decision comes just two days after the United States approved the same medicine, setting up a sharper contest in the fast-growing market for GLP-1 therapies. Foundayo is designed to mimic the appetite-regulating GLP-1 hormone and, unlike some rival oral medicines, can be taken without restrictions on food or water. That convenience is central to its commercial and clinical appeal, particularly for patients put off by weekly injections or by strict dosing routines.
Dr Fatima Al Kaabi, director-general of the Emirates Drug Establishment, said the approval reflected the country’s push to adopt advanced therapies and strengthen a pharmaceutical ecosystem built on innovation, efficiency and sustainability. She linked the move to the burden obesity places on public health, noting its association with more than 200 health complications, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and multiple cancers. Eli Lilly’s regional leadership also described the tablet as an added option for disease management rather than a stand-alone answer.
Clinical data behind the approval have drawn attention because they suggest oral treatment can deliver meaningful weight loss without needles. Lilly said adults taking the highest dose in the ATTAIN-1 trial lost an average of 27.3 pounds, or 12.4 per cent of body weight, while Reuters reported trial reductions in the 12 to 15 per cent range. The company also said the medicine improved several cardiovascular risk markers, including waist circumference, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure.
That does not mean pills are poised to replace injections altogether. Injectable medicines such as Wegovy and Zepbound still tend to produce greater weight loss, and analysts expect oral drugs to take a meaningful but limited share of the market rather than dominate it. Reuters reported that analysts see pills capturing about a fifth of the obesity-drug market by 2030, broadening access rather than overturning the injectable model.
Competition is intensifying quickly. Novo Nordisk launched an oral version of Wegovy in the United States in January, giving it an early foothold in the tablet segment before Lilly’s arrival. But Foundayo enters with one practical edge that analysts say could matter: it can be taken at any time of day, whereas the Wegovy pill must be taken first thing in the morning and at least 30 minutes before food, water or other medicines.
For the UAE, the approval lands against a demanding health backdrop. The Ministry of Health and Prevention said in its national health survey published in December 2025 that 22.4 per cent of adults are living with obesity, while 25.9 per cent have high blood pressure and 12.5 per cent have elevated blood glucose. Those figures help explain why regulators and clinicians are looking for a broader set of tools that can improve adherence and reach more patients earlier.
The wider global trend points in the same direction. The World Health Organization says 890 million adults were living with obesity in 2022, about 16 per cent of the world’s adult population, with prevalence having more than doubled since 1990. Against that backdrop, oral therapies are being watched not simply as a new product line but as a possible way to widen treatment access in health systems where stigma, cost, supply bottlenecks and fear of injections have all limited uptake.
Doctors have nonetheless warned that convenience should not be mistaken for simplicity. Clinicians in the UAE, commenting earlier this year on the arrival of oral GLP-1 medicines, said such drugs should be used under expert supervision and as part of structured plans involving diet, lifestyle changes and regular follow-up. They also cautioned that long-term durability remains under study, especially because weight regain after stopping GLP-1 treatment has emerged as a key concern across the category.
Safety will remain part of the discussion as use expands. Reuters reported that Foundayo carries the FDA’s boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumour risk, matching warnings already used for Wegovy. Gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported in trials. Those factors are unlikely to halt demand, but they will shape prescribing decisions and reinforce the need for proper screening, patient education and follow-up in a market that is moving from specialist treatment towards wider mainstream use.
The decision comes just two days after the United States approved the same medicine, setting up a sharper contest in the fast-growing market for GLP-1 therapies. Foundayo is designed to mimic the appetite-regulating GLP-1 hormone and, unlike some rival oral medicines, can be taken without restrictions on food or water. That convenience is central to its commercial and clinical appeal, particularly for patients put off by weekly injections or by strict dosing routines.
Dr Fatima Al Kaabi, director-general of the Emirates Drug Establishment, said the approval reflected the country’s push to adopt advanced therapies and strengthen a pharmaceutical ecosystem built on innovation, efficiency and sustainability. She linked the move to the burden obesity places on public health, noting its association with more than 200 health complications, including type 2 diabetes, hypertension and multiple cancers. Eli Lilly’s regional leadership also described the tablet as an added option for disease management rather than a stand-alone answer.
Clinical data behind the approval have drawn attention because they suggest oral treatment can deliver meaningful weight loss without needles. Lilly said adults taking the highest dose in the ATTAIN-1 trial lost an average of 27.3 pounds, or 12.4 per cent of body weight, while Reuters reported trial reductions in the 12 to 15 per cent range. The company also said the medicine improved several cardiovascular risk markers, including waist circumference, triglycerides and systolic blood pressure.
That does not mean pills are poised to replace injections altogether. Injectable medicines such as Wegovy and Zepbound still tend to produce greater weight loss, and analysts expect oral drugs to take a meaningful but limited share of the market rather than dominate it. Reuters reported that analysts see pills capturing about a fifth of the obesity-drug market by 2030, broadening access rather than overturning the injectable model.
Competition is intensifying quickly. Novo Nordisk launched an oral version of Wegovy in the United States in January, giving it an early foothold in the tablet segment before Lilly’s arrival. But Foundayo enters with one practical edge that analysts say could matter: it can be taken at any time of day, whereas the Wegovy pill must be taken first thing in the morning and at least 30 minutes before food, water or other medicines.
For the UAE, the approval lands against a demanding health backdrop. The Ministry of Health and Prevention said in its national health survey published in December 2025 that 22.4 per cent of adults are living with obesity, while 25.9 per cent have high blood pressure and 12.5 per cent have elevated blood glucose. Those figures help explain why regulators and clinicians are looking for a broader set of tools that can improve adherence and reach more patients earlier.
The wider global trend points in the same direction. The World Health Organization says 890 million adults were living with obesity in 2022, about 16 per cent of the world’s adult population, with prevalence having more than doubled since 1990. Against that backdrop, oral therapies are being watched not simply as a new product line but as a possible way to widen treatment access in health systems where stigma, cost, supply bottlenecks and fear of injections have all limited uptake.
Doctors have nonetheless warned that convenience should not be mistaken for simplicity. Clinicians in the UAE, commenting earlier this year on the arrival of oral GLP-1 medicines, said such drugs should be used under expert supervision and as part of structured plans involving diet, lifestyle changes and regular follow-up. They also cautioned that long-term durability remains under study, especially because weight regain after stopping GLP-1 treatment has emerged as a key concern across the category.
Safety will remain part of the discussion as use expands. Reuters reported that Foundayo carries the FDA’s boxed warning for thyroid C-cell tumour risk, matching warnings already used for Wegovy. Gastrointestinal side effects such as nausea and vomiting were the most commonly reported in trials. Those factors are unlikely to halt demand, but they will shape prescribing decisions and reinforce the need for proper screening, patient education and follow-up in a market that is moving from specialist treatment towards wider mainstream use.
Topics
Spotlight