Oral GLP‑1 Tracker: Novo’s oral Wegovy hits 3M prescription milestone as Lilly’s Foundayo chugs along in early launch

Novo Nordisk's oral Wegovy (oral semaglutide) has surpassed 3 million prescriptions in the United States within roughly five to five and a half months of its U.S. launch in January 2026, underscoring very rapid adoption.

The first 1 million prescriptions were filled over about 12 weeks; the next 2 million came in just 10 weeks, implying an acceleration in uptake and roughly one prescription every five seconds at peak.

Over 80% of new Wegovy pill prescriptions are for patients who previously had not used any GLP‑1 agonist therapy, indicating the oral form is expanding the overall obesity treatment market rather than simply cannibalizing existing injectable users.

Eli Lilly's competing oral GLP‑1, Foundayo (orforglipron), launched in early April 2026 and has already reached over 20,000 patients and roughly 8,000 prescribers, with similar early data showing that about 80% of its prescriptions are also going to people new to GLP‑1s.

Analysts and industry reports describe Wegovy’s oral version as one of the fastest‑launching pharmaceuticals in history, while noting that Lilly’s later‑entered Foundayo is off to a “robust” start and has the potential to narrow Novo’s early lead in the oral GLP‑1 obesity segment.