Eli Lilly CEO says 700,000 seniors started GLP-1s under Medicare, 70% on Lilly drugs, as Foundayo gains among oral patients

The Medicare coverage is operating through a temporary program called "Bridge," which lets eligible beneficiaries obtain weight loss drugs for a $50 monthly co-pay, according to CNBC. Medicare serves people aged 65 and older or with disabilities and covers about 66 million people. Ricks called the rollout "very encouraging" and said its expansion of the broader GLP-1 market "is what we had hoped."

Lilly's obesity injection Zepbound appears to be the biggest beneficiary of the coverage so far. Seniors in the program can access Zepbound, Lilly's newly launched obesity pill Foundayo, and Novo's competing Wegovy pill and injection. "We're capturing about seven out of 10 of those new patients, and a lot are still on Zepbound," Ricks said. He added that physicians appear to focus on patients with the most body weight and complications, which is where Zepbound plays a big role.

Foundayo, which entered the U.S. market in April, is playing a larger role for patients seeking a convenient option who "maybe just need to lose 25 to 30 pounds," Ricks said. The pill launched a few months behind Novo's oral GLP-1. Ricks said one-third of new patients on oral GLP-1s are taking Foundayo and that Lilly's share of the oral market is growing week by week. "We're confident long term" about Lilly's position in the pill segment, he said, especially as the company plans to launch Foundayo in more international markets in the coming months.

Ricks spoke with CNBC in front of roughly 240 acres of land at Generation Park in Houston, where Lilly on Monday broke ground on the $6.5 billion facility. The company first announced the site nearly a year ago and expects the plant to be operational by 2030. The facility will most notably produce Foundayo, Lilly's closely watched GLP-1 pill for obesity, but it will also manufacture active ingredients for other small-molecule medicines in areas such as cardiometabolic health, oncology, immunology and neuroscience.

The Houston project is part of a series of investments Lilly has made to reshore manufacturing in the United States. In February 2025, the company committed to spending an additional $27 billion to build four new facilities, including the Houston site, in part to build goodwill with President Donald Trump, CNBC reported. Lilly has also emphasized manufacturing capacity as a competitive advantage against rival Novo. Since 2020, it has committed more than $50 billion to expanding its manufacturing network.

Demand for Foundayo is rising in the U.S. The company said in August that the pill booked $98 million in sales for the second quarter, its first three months on the market. Medicare's new coverage of obesity drugs, which began in July, is expected to open more access to Foundayo and Zepbound. Ricks said he has not heard of many logistical issues with the rollout, saying the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services "did a nice job rolling this out," educating physicians and working with both companies and the insurance system.