By Patrick Wingrove
London: Eli Lilly said it has begun selling single-dose vials of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound in the U.S., aimed at patients who cannot get the cost of the medicine reimbursed through their health insurance plans.
The 2.5 milligram and 5 mg vials, which are the two lowest available doses of Zepbound, will be available through the drugmaker’s website LillyDirect at respective list prices of $399 and $549 for a month’s supply, the company said.
Lilly and Danish rival Novo Nordisk have been struggling to make enough of their obesity medications to meet soaring demand, with both Zepbound and Novo’s Wegovy having been listed as in shortage by the U.S. FDA for much of this year.
The Food and Drug Administration now lists all doses of Lilly’s Zepbound, known chemically as tirzepatide, as available but has not removed it from the shortage list. The lowest dose of Wegovy is still listed as in shortage.
Patrik Jonsson, Lilly’s president of cardiometabolic health, said in an interview that the launch of these vials will significantly increase supplies of Zepbound in the U.S.
“We are very confident with both the auto-injectors and the vials that we will be able to supply the needs in the U.S. marketplace,” he said, adding that a big chunk of patients do not progress to higher doses of Zepbound than 5mg during treatment.
Lilly said the prices of these vials represented a 50 per cent discount on those of all other obesity medicines in the GLP-1 class. It has previously said patients who are not covered for Zepbound can get the drug in a pen through LillyDirect for as little as $550.
Around 86 per cent of commercial healthcare plans cover obesity drugs, according to Lilly. Patients not covered for weight loss, such as those on the U.S. government’s Medicare health plan for older Americans, may otherwise have to pay more than $1,000 out of pocket for a month’s supply of Zepbound.
Lilly has already launched vials of its tirzepatide products in other countries including Australia, Canada and Poland, Jonsson said.
The company earlier this month raised its sales forecast for the year by $3 billion on the back of increased manufacturing capacity and supplies of Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro, which is also tirzepatide.
(Reporting by Patrick Wingrove Editing by Bill Berkrot)
