Foundayo Dosage Chart: 6 Strengths, 30-Day Steps, Prices

Foundayo Dosage Chart at a Glance

Foundayo comes in six strengths: 0.8, 2.5, 5.5, 9, 14.5 and 17.2 mg. Treatment starts at 0.8 mg once daily, each dose is held for at least 30 days before moving up, and the maximum is 17.2 mg once daily. One tablet a day, swallowed whole, with or without food.

Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Sections 2.1, 2.2 and 3 (revised 07/2026). Prices from LillyDirect and TrumpRx.gov, checked October 29, 2026.

*Earliest possible start is the soonest a strength could begin, not a schedule. It assumes one tablet every day with no missed doses, 30 days counted as 30 daily doses, and a step up at every first opportunity. The label sets no maximum time on any step and does not require reaching 9, 14.5 or 17.2 mg. Prices are cash prices for a 30-tablet bottle before taxes and fees, not insurance or Medicare prices.

How Foundayo Dosing Steps Up: The 30-Day Rule

The first two moves are set by the label. After at least 30 days on 0.8 mg, the dose goes to 2.5 mg; after at least 30 days on 2.5 mg, it goes to 5.5 mg. From there the wording changes. The dose may be increased to the next level (9, 14.5 or 17.2 mg) after at least 30 days on the current dose, "based on treatment response and tolerability." The maximum is 17.2 mg once daily.

The label gives no maximum time at any step and does not name a separate maintenance dose.

The six steps of the Foundayo label. Steps 1 to 3 are fixed; steps 4 to 6 depend on response and tolerability. Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Section 2.1.

The chart's earliest start days (day 31 for 2.5 mg through day 151 for 17.2 mg) come from counting 30 days per step. They are derived from Section 2.1. After 7 or more missed doses in a row, escalation restarts from a lower dose that the label does not name (Section 2.3).

Why the Steps Exist

The label tells prescribers to follow the starting dose and escalation to reduce the risk of gastrointestinal side effects. In the two trials behind the label, nausea, vomiting and diarrhea were more common during the dose escalation period and became less common over time (Section 6.1).

Foundayo Tablets Must Not Be Split

Tablets are swallowed whole, never broken, crushed or chewed, and no more than one tablet is taken per day. So there is no label-supported way to take an amount between two strengths: a dose change means a different tablet strength.

How to Take Each Foundayo Dose

Every strength is taken the same way: one tablet once a day, whole, with or without food. Lilly's patient website adds that Foundayo can be taken any time of day, with no planning around food or drink. Tablets come in bottles of 30 with a desiccant and a child-resistant cap. Store them at room temperature, 20 to 25°C (68 to 77°F); short excursions between 15 and 30°C (59 to 86°F) are allowed (Section 16).

Video from Dr. Amin Hedayat, MD (June 2026), not checked against the label. The doses and rules on this page come from the Foundayo prescribing information.

Identify Your Tablet

Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Sections 3 and 16.1.

The colors repeat across round (0.8 to 5.5 mg) and oval (9 to 17.2 mg) tablets, so check the marking in the chart above and the strength on the pharmacy label. If a tablet does not match, ask your pharmacist before taking it.

Missed Foundayo Doses and Restarting After a Gap

A long gap can also raise the price of 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg; see the 45-day refill rule below.

What Changes Foundayo Dosing: Medicines and Health Conditions

Some medicines and conditions cap the Foundayo dose, change another drug's dose, or rule Foundayo out:

This list is not complete; give your prescriber and pharmacist a full list of your medicines. Because Foundayo slows stomach emptying, it may also affect how other oral medicines are absorbed (Section 7.3).

What Each Foundayo Dose Did in the Label Trials

The label reports two 72-week, placebo-controlled trials, each with arms at 5.5, 9 and 17.2 mg. There was no arm for 0.8, 2.5 or 14.5 mg; those were steps on the way up, since both trials followed the Section 2.1 escalation. The trials used an investigational orforglipron formulation, which the label presents as equivalent dosages of Foundayo.

Trial 1: Adults With Obesity or Overweight, No Type 2 Diabetes

Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Section 14, Table 6. Trial 1 (NCT05869903) enrolled 3,127 adults.

Trial 2: Adults With Type 2 Diabetes

Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Section 14, Table 6. Trial 2 enrolled 1,613 adults with type 2 diabetes and a BMI of 27 or higher. Do not combine its numbers with Trial 1.

Stomach Side Effects by Dose (Trials 1 and 2 Pooled)

Source: Foundayo prescribing information, Section 6.1 (Table 1 for the four reactions; the Section 6.1 text for stopping treatment).

These are group averages, not a forecast for any one person. The label cautions that side-effect rates from one drug's trials cannot be directly compared with another drug's, so none of these tables is a head-to-head with any other GLP-1.

Why You May See 36 mg in the News

The published ATTAIN-1 paper in the New England Journal of Medicine reports doses of 6, 12 and 36 mg, with mean weight changes at week 72 of -7.5%, -8.4% and -11.2%, against -2.1% for placebo. Those milligram numbers belong to the investigational tablet used in the trial. They are not Foundayo strengths, and no marketed Foundayo tablet goes above 17.2 mg. The label reports the same trial program at 5.5, 9 and 17.2 mg. Do not convert between the two scales yourself.

Foundayo Price by Strength (Checked October 29, 2026)

As of October 29, 2026, LillyDirect and TrumpRx.gov list the same self-pay prices for a 30-tablet bottle (Lilly lists them as starting-at prices per 30-day month). Two are temporary.

Self-pay price per 30 tablets, checked October 29, 2026. The 2.5 mg and 5.5 mg reductions run through December 31, 2026.

Assumptions: cash self-pay prices, not insurance or Medicare; taxes and fees excluded; per day is the bottle price divided by 30. Regular prices for 2.5 mg ($199) and 5.5 mg ($299) appear in Lilly's program terms and on TrumpRx, and apply once the reduction ends (it runs through December 31, 2026; Lilly says it may change or cancel the offer at any time). The $349 price for a refill more than 45 days after the previous delivery applies to 14.5 and 17.2 mg only (Lilly's program terms; TrumpRx).

The 45-Day Refill Rule for 14.5 mg and 17.2 mg

Lilly prices these two strengths through its Foundayo Self-Pay Journey Program at $299 a month. Its program terms say the first purchase at these strengths gets the $299 offer, each refill must be bought within 45 days of the previous delivery to keep it, and the regular price is $349 a month. TrumpRx lists the same $349 for a refill more than 45 days after your last delivery.

What the Fastest Path Costs

On the earliest possible calendar (one 30-tablet bottle per step, days 1 to 180, a step up at every first chance; each bottle is the first fill at its strength), six bottles cost $1,394 at October 29, 2026 prices, or $1,544 if the 2.5 mg and 5.5 mg reductions have ended. That is the fastest path's cost, assuming prices never change; any one person's bill depends on whether, and how quickly, the dose goes up.

Insurance and Medicare

Lilly says eligible people whose commercial insurance covers Foundayo could pay as low as $25 a month (government beneficiaries excluded; terms apply). Separately, Medicare.gov lists Foundayo as covered under the temporary Medicare GLP-1 Bridge from July 1, 2026, with a $50 monthly copay for eligible Part D enrollees; CMS says the program runs through December 31, 2027. Eligibility rules are in our guide to insurance and the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge and our Medicare GLP-1 Bridge eligibility checker.

Switching to Foundayo From Wegovy, Zepbound or Another GLP-1

The Foundayo label does not give a switching schedule. It does not mention Wegovy, Zepbound, semaglutide or tirzepatide, and it lists one starting dose for everyone: 0.8 mg once daily. It also says using Foundayo together with another GLP-1 receptor agonist is not recommended. For the two weight-management tablets side by side, label by label, see Foundayo vs Wegovy pill.

So this page has no conversion table and no equivalent dose for moving from an injection to a tablet. Starting above 0.8 mg would be a prescriber's decision outside the label. This page covers the label only; ask your prescriber about any switching evidence published elsewhere.

Safety Essentials Before You Dose

Section 4 also contraindicates Foundayo for anyone with a known serious hypersensitivity (allergic reaction) to orforglipron or its ingredients. The label's warnings also include acute pancreatitis, severe stomach and bowel reactions, and kidney injury from dehydration after vomiting or diarrhea. For an overdose, the label points to Poison Control at 1-800-222-1222. For the full background on the drug, see our explainer on Foundayo and oral GLP-1s.