Lilly tumbles on Foundayo’s shaky week; FDA to issue vouchers for psychedelics

An article from News roundup Lilly tumbles on Foundayo’s shaky week; FDA to issue vouchers for psychedelics Lilly shares dipped, and Novo’s climbed, as Foundayo’s early trajectory diverged from that of oral Wegovy. Elsewhere, Regeneron inked a drug price deal and two companies announced leadership changes. Published April 24, 2026 By BioPharma Dive staff Share Copy link Email LinkedIn X/Twitter Facebook Print License Add us on Google Today, a brief rundown of news from Eli Lilly and the Food and Drug Administration, as well as updates from Regeneron, Amgen, BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics and Novo Nordisk that you may have missed. Eli Lilly shares sagged Friday after the latest weekly prescription numbers for its obesity pill Foundayo fell short of investors’ lofty expectations. According to IQVIA data shared with analysts at RBC Capital Markets, U.S. prescriptions totaled 3,707 for the week ending April 17, jumping 2,317 from the 1,390 figure reported over the drug’s first two days on the market. By comparison, Novo Nordisk’s rival pill Wegovy hit 3,071 over its first full week and climbed to 18,410 the following week, wrote RBC’s Trung Huynh. According to Huynh, some investors had initially projected as much as $5 billion in 2026 sales for Foundayo, but are now dialing back those estimates to around $1.3 billion to $1.5 billion — a number that could be achieved if 300,000 prescriptions are written by the end of the year. Lilly shares fell nearly 5% in Friday trading, while Novo’s shares rose 7%. — Jonathan Gardner The Food and Drug Administration has issued three "national priority" review vouchers to entities companies testing psychedelic medicines on forms of depression and post-traumatic stress disorder, according to a statement from the Department of Health and Human Services. Last week, the White House issued an executive order meant to encourage development of psychedelics for mental health conditions. HHS followed up Friday, revealing in a statement that the FDA is finalizing new guidance and issuing vouchers to companies studying psilocybin in treatment-resistant depression or major depressive disorder and methylone in PTSD. Compass Pathways confirmed receipt of one voucher. The others have reportedly gone to Otsuka Pharmaceutical and the non-profit Usona Institute. — Ben Fidler Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has joined 16 of its peers in reaching a drug pricing deal with the Trump administration. The agreement is similar to the others the U.S. government has announced, with Regeneron gaining a three-year reprieve from tariffs in exchange for boosting domestic manufacturing and giving Medicaid “most favored nation” pricing for certain drugs. The company will also sell its cholesterol-lowering medication Praluent on TrumpRx, a government channel for drug purchasing, and offer its newly approved gene therapy for hearing loss at no cost. The 17 deals the administration has announced have largely eased the sector’s concerns over drug pricing reforms, as they stand to have little effect on companies’ sales and profits. — Ben Fidler Amgen on Wednesday said that longtime oncology executive, research chief and current Chief Technology Officer David Reese is retiring at the end of June. Alongside Reese’s pending exit, Amgen also disclosed other changes within its executive ranks, among them Sean Bruich being tapped to serve as CTO and Jay Bradner becoming the company’s executive vice president of not only research and development but also “artificial intelligence and data.” Amgen said these changes, effective June 1, will better align it with the “evolving adoption of new technologies across the health care ecosystem.” — Ben Fidler BridgeBio Pharma’s cancer-focused spinout BridgeBio Oncology Therapeutics has also switched up its leadership team as part of a transition into a “new phase of development,” the company said Wednesday. Effective April 20, Pedro Beltran will step in as CEO and Idan Elmelech will be the company’s chief operating officer, while current leader Eli Wallace shifts to senior adviser. BridgeBio leader Neil Kumar, meanwhile, has been appointed as executive chairman. The company claimed this “next generation” of leadership will help it “execute with strategic precision and purpose.” BridgeBio Oncology has three cancer drugs in early-stage testing for RAS-driven tumors. — Delilah Alvarado Novo said Thursday that an oral version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in multiple of its obesity and diabetes drug, produced positive results in a late-stage trial of children and adolescents with type 2 diabetes. After 26 weeks of treatment, Novo’s pill significantly lowered blood sugar when compared to a placebo in Type 2 diabetics between the ages of 10 and 17. Novo currently markets the therapy for adults in the U.S. and Europe as Rybelsus; it’ll be sold for adolescents as the “Ozempic pill,” the company said. — Delilah Alvarado Editor’s note: This story has been updated with the recipients of the FDA’s latest national priority vouchers. 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