Eli Lilly plans to launch its oral obesity treatment Foundayo in Europe by the end of this year or early 2027, focusing on the direct-to-consumer market, Eli Lilly International president Patrik Jonsson said in an interview with Reuters.
Once Lilly gains approvals for Foundayo in Europe, it will team up with telehealth companies, as it has in the United States, and market the treatment to consumers who pay out of pocket.
As for the drugmaker’s plan to sell Foundayo in Europe and the U.K. through government reimbursement channels, much will depend on how it will impact the most favored nations (MFN) pricing policy Lilly signed last year with President Donald Trump.
“Our goal will still be public coverage, wherever possible,” Jonsson said, as quoted by Reuters, adding that “MFN will play a role for all launches.”
Trump’s MFN policy is designed to reduce the prices of U.S. prescription drugs by linking them to those in certain other developed countries. The initiative typically uses a group of eight high-income countries to benchmark U.S. prices: Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Switzerland and the U.K.
Lilly and its main competitor in the weight-loss market, Novo Nordisk, are among the 18 drugmakers who have signed MFN deals. In exchange for relief from tariffs on goods imported to the U.S., the companies have agreed to sell their newly approved drugs in the country at MFN prices.
Since countries in Europe pay less for drugs than in the U.S., it has reduced the incentive for companies to launch their newly approved drugs there. According to a report from GlobalData, drug launches are down by 35% in Europe since Trump introduced his MFN plan last year.
Over the last several months, executives from many drug manufacturers have been critical of Europe’s pricing policies, saying they hinder innovation.
In April, Novartis CEO Vas Narasimhan said that Europe needs a “complete rethink” of how it prices its drugs. A few days later, AstraZeneca CEO Pascal Soriot suggested that companies may opt to skip launches of new products in benchmark companies if their prices are too low.
Novo Nordisk is closing in on approvals for its oral version of obesity treatment Wegovy in Europe. In May, it was recommended for coverage in the European Union and now is under consideration for marketing authorization. In the U.K., Novo is awaiting a thumbs up from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE).