Eli Lilly reduces price of Zepbound weight loss drug to increase availability and distribution.

• Eli Lilly reduced the price of its weight loss drug Zepbound by half to make it more accessible to patients who lack insurance coverage for the popular injection.
• The move aims to increase the supply of Zepbound in the U.S. market while ensuring patient safety, as cheaper copycat versions of the drug become more popular.
• The company is now providing 2.5-milligram and 5-milligram single-dose vials of Zepbound for $399 per month and $549 per month, respectively, through its direct-to-consumer website.

On Tuesday, the company released a new form of its weight loss drug Zepbound at a lower price to make it accessible to millions of patients without insurance coverage, including those with Medicare.

The move aims to increase the supply of Zepbound in the U.S. as demand increases, and to ensure eligible patients are safely accessing the real treatment as cheaper copycat versions become more popular.

The company is now providing 2.5-milligram and 5-milligram single-dose vials of Zepbound for $399 per month and $549 per month, respectively, through its direct-to-consumer website. Patients usually begin treatment with a 2.5-milligram dose, gradually increase the amount, and later take maintenance doses to maintain weight loss.

The monthly cost of Zepbound and other popular weight loss drugs, including Wegovy, is approximately $1,000 before insurance and rebates. These treatments belong to a category of blockbuster medications known as GLP-1s, which mimic specific gut hormones to suppress a person's appetite and manage blood sugar levels.

Instead of using a syringe and needle to draw up the medicine from a single-dose vial, patients can directly inject the Zepbound Eli Lilly version with a single-dose autoinjector pen on Tuesday. This differs from the current form of all Zepbound doses, which require patients to inject themselves with a syringe and needle.

Eli Lilly stated that the vials will provide extra production capability as they are simpler to produce than autoinjector pens.

Patients who are willing to pay for Zepbound themselves and are enrolled in Medicare or employer-sponsored health plans that do not currently cover obesity treatments will benefit from the lower price points, according to Patrik Jonsson, president of Eli Lilly diabetes and obesity, in an interview.

Medicare beneficiaries are not eligible for Eli Lilly's savings card programs for Zepbound, which offer discounts on the drug. One program allows people with insurance coverage for Zepbound to pay as little as $25 out of pocket, while another allows those whose insurance does not cover the drug to pay as low as $550.

The removal of third-party supply chain entities through direct payment for single-dose vials of Zepbound allows for a transparent price, the company stated in a release.

Jonsson stated that there will be no markups, and it is crucial for consumers to have pricing predictability.

Eligible patients can purchase single-dose vials from a new "self-pay pharmacy" section on LillyDirect, which is partnering with Gifthealth to process prescriptions electronically and send vials to patients.

Eli Lilly's website offers syringes and needles for purchase, along with instructions on how to correctly administer Zepbound from a vial.

LillyDirect, launched in January, connects patients with an independent telehealth company that can prescribe certain drugs if they are eligible. Additionally, the site offers a home-delivery option for Eli Lilly's treatment, utilizing a third-party online pharmacy to fill prescriptions and deliver them directly to patients.

Eli Lilly stated in a statement that the distribution of vials through the site will guarantee that patients and healthcare providers are receiving "authentic" Zepbound. This aligns with the company's efforts to safeguard the public from the risks associated with the widespread distribution of counterfeit, fake, or unapproved versions of Lilly's medications, as stated in the release.

In times of scarcity, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration permits compounding pharmacies to produce copies of branded medicines. These compounded medications are bespoke alternatives to branded drugs, tailored to meet individual patients' requirements.

In the U.S., both Zepbound and Eli Lilly's diabetes drug, Mounjaro, are protected by patents. Additionally, the company does not provide the active ingredient of those two drugs, tirzepatide, to external groups.

Eli Lilly has raised concerns about the quality of weight loss and diabetes treatments being sold by some compounding pharmacies and clinics. The company, along with its rival Novo Nordisk, has taken legal action against these establishments over the past year.

Despite the FDA's drug shortage database now listing all doses of Zepbound as available, thousands of online platforms selling compounded versions of weight loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have emerged in the past six months, according to Jonsson.

"We believe that the U.S. population is being targeted with untested, unapproved, and unregulated anti-obesity medications that may not always contain the drug they claim to," he said. "This presents an opportunity to ensure that consumers have access to FDA-approved and quality-approved tirzepatide."