Foundayo dosage: what the label schedule says

What the Foundayo label says about dose

A label is the legal prescribing information a maker files with the FDA. These rows come from the Foundayo label as Lilly published it (revised July 2026) and match a second copy of the label text and Lilly's own medical information answers on dosing. Foundayo is the brand name of orforglipron, a once-daily small molecule tablet that is not a peptide. The label lists one use: reducing excess body weight and keeping the reduction off long term, together with a reduced-calorie diet and more physical activity, in adults with obesity or in adults with overweight and at least one weight-related condition.

Label sections are numbered as in the prescribing information. As the Atlas read Section 2, the label names no recommended maintenance dose and does not say that a person should reach 17.2 mg. It ties each later increase to response and tolerability. Lilly's medical information answer on approved dosing repeats the same steps.

The label schedule, step by step

The label sets a minimum of 30 days on each dose and no fixed calendar, so the table shows the earliest day each step could begin if every step took exactly 30 days. The days are simple arithmetic from the label rule. They are not a plan, and the label does not require a person to move up at every step or to reach 17.2 mg.

The label wording for the later steps is "the next dosage level," so the table lists them in order. The label does not say whether a prescriber may skip a level.

Foundayo tablet strengths

Foundayo is made only as tablets. The label lists six strengths. The first three are round tablets and the last three are modified oval tablets. Each strength is supplied in bottles of 30 tablets.

The descriptions are the label's own words from its dosage forms section. The Atlas gives no advice on handling or storing tablets. Ask the pharmacist, and see the label.

Capsule doses in the trials and the tablet strengths now sold

This is the part that confuses people reading the trial papers. The big Foundayo trials gave orforglipron as capsules, and the papers name the doses 6 mg, 12 mg and 36 mg. The tablets the FDA approved carry different numbers. Lilly's medical information service publishes a matching table, and the label itself reports the same trials under the tablet strengths.

Source: Lilly Medical Information, answer dated August 19, 2026. Lilly says the capsule doses are bioequivalent to the tablet doses, "respectively, providing comparable systemic exposure," that capsules and tablets are not substitutable on an mg-per-mg basis, and that only the tablets are approved and available in the United States. Lilly registered a capsule-versus-tablet study. The pairing is the maker's statement about two forms of its own medicine. The Atlas converts nothing between brands, and this page gives no conversion to any other medicine.

What the label says about a missed dose

This is label text. What to do about a particular missed dose is a question for a prescriber or pharmacist. The Wegovy tablet label works differently: it says to skip a missed tablet and take the next dose the following day (see the Wegovy dosage page).

Other label text that touches the dose

CYP3A4 and OATP1B are the body's routes for processing some medicines. A pharmacist can check a person's whole medicine list against the label. The birth control and pregnancy page covers what the other labels say about contraception.

Changing to or from Foundayo

The label's dosage section has no text on moving to Foundayo from Wegovy, Zepbound, Ozempic, Mounjaro or another GLP-1 medicine, or from Foundayo to one of them. Its Section 1 says that using it with another GLP-1 receptor agonist is not recommended. The switching page lists the same gap and covers what other labels and small studies say.

One randomized trial did test a pill after injections. ATTAIN-MAINTAIN gave orforglipron or placebo for 52 weeks to adults who had finished SURMOUNT-5 on weekly tirzepatide (205 people) or semaglutide (171 people). The published abstract does not state the orforglipron dose, so this page does not either. The Atlas gives no steps. See weight regain after stopping for the results and GLP-1 pill or shot for how the pills and injections compare.

What the Foundayo dose trials tested

Trial results are group averages from the study named, not promises for any one person. The last column names the analysis approach, because the way the analysis treats people who stop treatment changes the numbers. The papers name capsule doses, and the table adds the tablet strength Lilly says matches each.

• The label's two weight trials tested three strengths only: 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg. As the Atlas read the label, it reports no trial arm for 0.8 mg, 2.5 mg or 14.5 mg.
• In the label's weight table, average loss rose with each of the three strengths in both trials. At week 72 in the trial without diabetes, 59.6%, 63.1% and 71.5% of people on 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg lost at least 5% of body weight, against 26.8% on placebo. In the trial with type 2 diabetes the figures were 47.4%, 54.7% and 67%, against 26.8%.
• The trial arms are assigned strengths. The label lets each increase depend on response and tolerability, so the trials do not show which strength suits one person.

Sources: ATTAIN-1 (2025), ATTAIN-2 (2025), ACHIEVE-1 (2025) and ACHIEVE-3 (2026). The Atlas read the published abstracts and, for the tablet figures, the label's weight table. Eli Lilly funded all four. The label restates ATTAIN-1 and ATTAIN-2 under the tablet names, and its table describes an unconditional average treatment effect. The Atlas news item on the approval reports a larger figure for the highest dose among people who stayed on treatment (12.4% against 0.9% on placebo), which is a different question from the table above. The ACHIEVE trials tested a diabetes use that the label does not list, and their doses are capsule doses.

How side effects line up with the dose

The label's adverse reactions table pools the two weight trials and lists the three trial strengths against placebo. Digestive reactions were the most common, and most rates rose from 5.5 mg to 9 mg. The table has no column for 0.8 mg, 2.5 mg or 14.5 mg.

The pooled groups had 1,576 people on placebo, 1,051 on 5.5 mg, 1,055 on 9 mg and 1,049 on 17.2 mg. Across both trials the label says 8% of people on Foundayo stopped because of side effects. The week-by-week side effects page shows when digestive effects tend to appear, and the hair loss page covers the hair loss rows.

What Lilly lists for the cash price

Lilly's LillyDirect page listed these self-pay prices when the Atlas read it on November 2, 2026. Each is shown as a starting price per month for one strength. Lilly defines a month as 30 days, which matches a bottle of 30 tablets.

Lilly's footnotes say the prices are self-pay only, need a prescription, may carry taxes and fees, are not insurance, and may be changed or cancelled by Lilly at any time. Regular prices apply for 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg if the prescription is not refilled within 45 days, and the page does not show them, or the regular prices before the temporary reduction. Lilly also says people with commercial insurance could pay as low as $25 a month, with government beneficiaries excluded. The Atlas has not independently verified any of this. The paying for GLP-1 medicines page, the Medicare page and the cost tool cover insurance, Medicare and other prices.

How Foundayo doses relate to the Wegovy tablet

Foundayo and the Wegovy tablet are the two daily GLP-1 tablets labeled for weight management, but they are different medicines with different labels. The Wegovy tablet label sets fixed 30-day blocks of 1.5 mg, 4 mg and 9 mg before a 25 mg maintenance dose, and asks for an empty stomach in the morning with a wait before food. Foundayo's label sets a minimum of 30 days per step, ties later steps to response and tolerability, and says with or without food. The Wegovy dosage page lays out that label, and the pill or shot page compares the two pills with the injections. A milligram of one is not a milligram of the other, and the Atlas gives no conversion.

Other orforglipron products are a different matter

The strengths, steps and missed-dose rules on this page belong to the approved Foundayo tablets. Lilly says orforglipron tablets, and not capsules, are approved and available in the United States. Capsules, powders or other products sold as orforglipron are not Foundayo, have not been reviewed by the FDA as a product, and nothing on this page applies to them. See compounded versus brand-name medicines for how the Atlas treats products that are not the approved brand.

Quick answers

What is the Foundayo dosage?

The label starts at 0.8 mg once a day. After at least 30 days on 0.8 mg the dose goes to 2.5 mg, and after at least 30 more days to 5.5 mg. It may then rise to 9 mg, 14.5 mg or 17.2 mg, each after at least 30 days on the current dose and based on response and tolerability. The highest dose is 17.2 mg once a day. A prescriber sets the plan.

What is the Foundayo starting dose?

0.8 mg once a day. The label says to stay on it for at least 30 days before the dose is increased to 2.5 mg.

What are the Foundayo tablet strengths?

0.8 mg, 2.5 mg, 5.5 mg, 9 mg, 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg. Each is supplied in bottles of 30 tablets, and the highest dose the label lists is 17.2 mg once a day. With a strong CYP3A4 inhibitor, the label lists 9 mg as the highest dose.

Can Foundayo be taken with food?

The label says once a day, with or without food. The tablets are swallowed whole, not broken, crushed or chewed, and the label says not to take more than one tablet per day. The Wegovy tablet has a different rule: morning, empty stomach, with a wait before eating.

What does the label say if a Foundayo dose is missed?

Take the dose as soon as possible and do not double up the next dose. If seven or more consecutive doses are missed, the label says to reinitiate dose escalation at a lower dosage.

How long between Foundayo dose increases?

The label says at least 30 days on the current dose before each increase, and ties the later increases to treatment response and tolerability. It gives a minimum, not a calendar.

Which Foundayo doses were tested in the weight trials?

The label's two weight trials tested 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg against placebo for 72 weeks. In the trial without diabetes the label reports average losses of 7.4%, 8.3% and 11.1%, against 2.1% on placebo. The Atlas found no trial arm for 0.8 mg, 2.5 mg or 14.5 mg.

Are the 6 mg, 12 mg and 36 mg doses in the trial papers the same as the tablets?

Lilly says the capsule doses of 1, 3, 6, 12, 24 and 36 mg match the tablet strengths of 0.8, 2.5, 5.5, 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg, in that order. Lilly also says capsules and tablets are not substitutable mg for mg and that only the tablets are approved in the United States.

How much does Foundayo cost by dose?

Lilly's LillyDirect page listed starting self-pay prices of $149 for 0.8 mg and 2.5 mg, $199 for 5.5 mg and $299 for 9 mg, with $299 for 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg when refilled within 45 days. The 2.5 mg and 5.5 mg prices are temporarily reduced through December 31, 2026. Prices and terms change, and the Atlas has not independently verified them.

Is the Foundayo dose the same as the Wegovy pill dose?

No. They are different medicines with separate labels. The Wegovy tablet runs 1.5 mg, 4 mg, 9 mg and then 25 mg once a day, and Foundayo runs from 0.8 mg to 17.2 mg once a day. The Atlas found no label text that makes one product's dose a replacement for the other's.

Questions to ask

• What dose are we aiming for, and how will we decide whether to step up after 30 days?
• If I miss a dose, or several, who do I call, and what does your office want me to do?
• Do any of my other medicines, including birth control, change how Foundayo is dosed?
• What will each dose step cost me, with my coverage?
• What is the plan if I cannot tolerate a step?

What is still unknown

• The label gives a minimum of 30 days per dose and no fixed calendar, so how long a particular person stays at each step is a prescriber decision that no label or trial settles.
• The Atlas read the label as Lilly published it (revised July 2026) and checked it against a second copy of the label text and Lilly's medical information answers. It could not open the FDA-hosted copy or the DailyMed copy of the Foundayo label during this check, so the dose text has not been compared with those two.
• The Atlas read Section 2 and parts of Sections 1, 3, 6, 7, 14 and 16 of the label, not the whole label. It did not read the sections on kidney or liver disease.
• As the Atlas read Section 2, the label names no recommended maintenance dose, and the weight trials tested only 5.5 mg, 9 mg and 17.2 mg. What the 0.8 mg, 2.5 mg and 14.5 mg steps do for weight is not shown in them.
• The Atlas read the published abstracts of ATTAIN-1, ATTAIN-2, ACHIEVE-1 and ACHIEVE-3, not the full papers. The ACHIEVE-1 abstract does not name its analysis approach, and the ACHIEVE-3 abstract gives no weight result.
• The ATTAIN-MAINTAIN abstract does not state the orforglipron dose used after injections.
• Self-pay prices are as Lilly's page listed them on November 2, 2026 and change often. The page does not show the regular prices that apply when a temporary reduction or the 45-day refill condition ends.