Eli Lilly's Foundayo sparks shift to oral weight loss drugs
Technology
Big news if you hate needles: drug companies are racing to turn popular weight loss injections into easy-to-take pills.
It hasn't been simple, since stomach acid usually destroys these hunger-controlling medications, but Eli Lilly's Foundayo cracked the code with new delivery tricks and was approved in April 2026.
Elecoglipron and aleniglipron show strong results
Astrazeneca and Structure Therapeutics just shared strong results for their oral GLP-1 drugs: elecoglipron helped people lose up to 11.8% of their body weight in 36 weeks, while aleniglipron hit up to 12.1%, with no major safety issues so far.
With other companies like Roche and Viking also jumping in, expect more options soon, making weight loss treatments way less intimidating for anyone who prefers a pill over a shot.