Eli Lilly Secures CVS Formulary Victory Following Q1 2026 Blowout Financial Results
In the first quarter of 2026, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) delivered a blowout performance, cementing its leadership in the GLP-1 market over rival Novo Nordisk. Lilly's Q1 2026 revenue surged 56% year-over-year to $19.80 billion, beating Wall Street expectations by over $2 billion, while net income more than doubled to $7.40 billion. This performance was driven by the massive commercial scaling of its tirzepatide products, with the diabetes drug Mounjaro generating $8.7 billion (+125% YoY) and the obesity drug Zepbound contributing $4.2 billion (+80% YoY).
Lilly reported that it has captured a dominant share of both the domestic and international GLP-1 markets. In its earnings presentation, Lilly disclosed that it controls just over 60% of the U.S. GLP-1 market (compared with Novo Nordisk's 39.4%) and 53.2% of the international market (compared with Novo's 46.8%).
Following this financial milestone, Lilly secured a major commercial victory on May 28, 2026, when CVS Caremark announced it would stop giving Novo Nordisk's Wegovy exclusive preferred status. CVS Caremark added Lilly's new oral GLP-1 drug Eli Lilly's Foundayo (Orforglipron) Secures FDA Approval and Launches into Fierce Oral GLP-1 Battle (Approved on April 1, 2026) to its formularies on June 1, 2026, and will restore Zepbound as a preferred option starting October 1, 2026. This move puts Zepbound and Foundayo on the formularies of all three of the largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the United States, significantly expanding Lilly's addressable insured patient pool.
Key Executive Commentary
Lilly CEO David Ricks dismissed concerns regarding potential cannibalization of injectable therapies by oral alternatives, noting that 80% of Foundayo prescriptions are for patients entirely new to the GLP-1 drug class. Commenting on the commercial potential of oral therapies and pricing, Ricks stated:
"We can market it to every corner of the world... For people who want to lose 30 pounds, that’s going to be a great solution, and that’s most people who want to lose weight." "We’re just scratching the surface on the volume side... We’re seeing growth acceleration with price cuts."