A zepbound injection pen, Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug, appears in New York City on December 11, 2023.
Brendan Mcdermid | Reuters
Eli Lilly On Tuesday he released higher doses of his drug for loss of zepbound weight in vials with a single dose with half of his usual monthly price to reach more patients without insurance coverage for block injection , such as those with Medicare.
It expands the company’s attempt to increase the Zepbound supply to the US while the demand flies, and to ensure that acceptable patients are safely entering the real treatment instead of the cheaper complicated versions.
Eli Lilly is now offering higher doses of zepbound in a single-dose vial through a “Self-Pagese Pharmacy” section on its direct customer site, Lillydirect, who began to provide lower doses of medicine in vials in August. Acceptable patients diagnosed by a health care provider only overweight or together with obstructive sleep apnea-the newly approved zepbound-approved use for those vials themselves on the site.
The company is selling 7.5 milligrams and 10 milligrams of zepbound vials for $ 499 a month when patients fill their first recipe, and whenever recharge within 45 days of their previous delivery. Otherwise, those two doses will cost $ 599 and $ 699, respectively.
Also on Tuesday, Eli Lilly said he was lowering the price of both vials with lower Zepbound dose of $ 50. The 2.5 milligrams will now cost $ 349, and 5 milligrams of bottles will now be $ 499, according to a release.
Patients should use a syringe and needle to design the medicine from a single dose vial and inject themselves. This differs from a single -dose autoinjector pen, the currently available form of all doses of Zepbound, which patients can inject directly under their skin by clicking a button.
Eli Lilly has said those vials will make more medicines available because they are easier to produce than auto -projector pens, which cost approximately $ 1,000 a month before insurance.
Patients usually begin treatment with a dose of 2.5 milligrams for four weeks, then gradually increase the amount per week and later receive so -called maintenance doses to keep weight. Eli Lilly currently does not offer the highest doses of Zepbound-12.5 milligrams and 15 milligrams of single dose vials.
The lowest prices for each one of the one -dose bottles will benefit from patients who are willing to pay Zepbound themselves and are recorded on medical or employer -sponsored health plans that do not cover overweight treatments.
“We are, in the absence of full coverage for people suffering from overweight like other chronic illnesses, we are simply trying to fill that room and offer a more affordable solution, especially for the medical population because none of our solutions to The affordability cannot be applied, ”said Patrick Jonsson, President of Eli Lilly Diabetes and obesity, in an interview.
Medicare beneficiaries are also not eligible for Eli Lilly savings cards for Zepbound. Jonsson said that “in an ideal world”, the Trump administration will approve a rule proposed by the Biden administration to have Medicare to cover overweight medicines. US HEALTH AND HUMAN HUMAN DEPARTMENTS ROBERT F. Kennedy Jr. It has been skeptical of weight loss medicines.
Some people turned into composite pharmacies that make even cheaper copies of Zepbound because brand treatment has been very expensive and was absent until recent months. The US Food and Drug Administration has stated since the lack of zepbound, however, which will soon stop a lot of pharmacies made up of making those versions of the medicine.
Jonsson said Eli Lilly is not a “price that competes with the ingredients”, adding that the company does not believe “there is still a market for the mass complex”.
He said Tuesday’s announcement helps to ensure that patients “do not rely on knackoffs that are not approved by FDA for safety, efficiency and quality.”
Progress of the beginning of Vial Zepbound
Eli Lilly declined to say how many patients are ordering vials from Lillydirect so far, but Jonsson said “Making has been really good”.
He said the zepbound recipes filled through Lillydirect’s self-paying pharmacy, which offers single-dose bottles, probably constitute a low percentage to a wider overweight market.
About 10% of young patients in the overweight market who begin a treatment are using zepbound through Lillydirect’s self-paying pharmacy, Jonsson added. He said the start of 7.5 milligrams and 10 milligrams of doses will add to this number.
Lillydirect, which began in January 2024, connects people with an independent telecommunications company that can prescribe certain medicines if patients are right. The site also offers an opportunity for home distribution if the treatment prescribed is Eli Lilly, by pressing an online third -party pharmacy to fill the recipes and send them directly to patients.
In December, the start of direct health care to the RO consumer said its platform would also offer vials with a single dose of Zepbound through a new partnership with Eli Lilly.