MedPal AI plc (LSE:MPAL) highlighted a potential expansion of the UK private weight-management market after regulators authorised Eli Lilly’s once-daily oral GLP-1 treatment orforglipron, which will be sold under the Foundayo brand.
The Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency authorised the drug on August 10, making the UK the first European country to approve the treatment. Eli Lilly has indicated that Foundayo is expected to become available through private prescription later this month, although pricing has yet to be announced.
For MedPal, the regulatory decision is significant because its New Health business operates a private GLP-1 weight-management clinic and the group already has an approved purchasing relationship with Eli Lilly.
Foundayo initially limited to private prescriptions
Orforglipron has been authorised for weight loss and weight maintenance in adults with a body mass index of at least 30, or between 27 and 30 where patients have at least one weight-related co-morbidity.
Treatment is intended to be used alongside a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity. The authorisation also covers improved glycaemic control for patients whose type 2 diabetes is insufficiently controlled.
Foundayo is not currently available through the NHS and remains subject to an assessment by the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence.
That leaves private prescriptions as the initial route to the treatment, directly overlapping with the market targeted by MedPal’s New Health clinic.
The approval follows the MHRA’s authorisation of Novo Nordisk’s oral semaglutide weight-loss tablet in June, meaning the UK has approved two once-daily oral GLP-1 weight-management treatments within two months.
New Health reaches £2.2 million annualised prescription revenue run rate
MedPal said New Health generated more than £180,000 of private prescription revenue during July following only three weeks of marketing.
That represents an annualised run rate above £2.2 million, while the wider group was operating at an annualised recurring revenue run rate of approximately £8.6 million.
MedPal Limited, the company’s wholly owned subsidiary, was approved as an authorised purchaser of Eli Lilly pharmaceutical products in the UK in January 2026. The group also has direct supply agreements with both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk for existing GLP-1 medicines.
This existing infrastructure could put MedPal in a position to participate in the market for newly authorised oral treatments as they become commercially available, although the company has not announced specific Foundayo sales expectations.
MedPal sees oral GLP-1 drugs widening potential customer base
MedPal believes oral GLP-1 treatments could attract patients who have previously avoided injectable therapies rather than simply shifting existing demand between different formats.
The company pointed to previously reported U.S. prescription data showing that more than 80% of new prescriptions for the first oral GLP-1 there involved patients who were new to GLP-1 therapy.
“Two once daily oral GLP-1 pills for weight management authorised in the UK inside two months, and in both cases the UK is first in Europe. The direction of travel is unmistakable: the GLP-1 market is expanding to include convenient oral treatments that bring in patients who would never have started with an injection, and for now the only way to access them is privately.
“That is exactly the market New Health was built for, and it is already delivering: over £2.2 million of annualised revenue after just three weeks of marketing. With clinician-led prescribing, robotic dispensing and an approved purchasing relationship with Eli Lilly in place, every new authorisation potentially widens our customer funnel,” said Jason Drummond, founder and chief executive of MedPal.
For investors, the key issue will be whether the arrival of additional oral GLP-1 treatments translates into sustained prescription growth for New Health. Foundayo’s expected private launch later this month, its eventual pricing and the outcome of the NICE assessment are among the next developments to watch.
More about MedPal AI
MedPal AI is a vertically integrated digital health and pharmacy group operating pharmacy hubs in Runcorn and Swaffham alongside its New Health GLP-1 weight-management clinic.
Its other operations include a care-home pharmacy supply business, eMARx electronic medication administration software and Juno, an AI health companion built on Anthropic’s Claude. The group is seeking to combine prescribing, dispensing, delivery, medication administration and AI-based patient support within a single healthcare platform.
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