Eli Lilly has launched a new program that will allow self-pay patients to purchase the weight-loss drug Zepbound for as little as $399 per month—less than half the list price of other incretin medicines used for patients with obesity.
A sign for Eli Lilly & Co. stands outside their corporate headquarters in Indianapolis on April 26, ... [+]
People who have been prescribed the two lowest-available doses of Zepbound will be able to purchase a month's worth of supply of single-use vials via the company's direct-to-consumer website starting Tuesday.
Eli Lilly says the new option will help meet demand for the drug in patients who are not covered by insurance, whose insurance doesn’t cover weight loss drugs used for obesity (like Medicare) and who don't qualify for the company's savings card program.
The discounted, single-use vials will need to be self-administered via a syringe, as opposed to the auto-injector pen Zepbound is typically sold in.
Patrik Jonsson, Eli Lilly's resident of cardiometabolic health, told Reuters that the new vials will significantly increase supplies of Zepbound in the U.S., where the Food and Drug Administration has listed the tirzepatide injection as in a shortage for much of the year.
A four-week supply of the 2.5 mg single-dose vial will cost $399 and a four-week supply of the 5 mg dose is priced at $549.
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Semaglutide, the generic name for Ozempic and Wegovy, was approved as a weight loss drug from Novo Nordisk in 2021 and popularity for similar medications has skyrocketed since. Zepbound, which uses the active ingredient tirzepatide, entered the market as a weight loss drug in December and made Eli Lilly another major player in the battle for market dominance. Both companies have reported sky-rocketed revenue from their weight loss medications. Tirzepatide appeared on the FDA's shortage list in April and, while currently marked as available, has not been removed from the list. Lilly said it would open a new manufacturing facility in North Carolina to help meet demand by the end of the year, but it isn't the only such drug to have experienced a shortage. Novo Nordisk last year was forced to limit its supply of Wegovy to current patients and Lilly’s Mounjaro, the same drug as Zepbound but which has not been approved for weight loss by the FDA, has had availability issues as well.