Eli Lilly will begin selling single-dose vials of its drug tirzepatide, marketed as Zepbound for weight loss, and price them at least 50% lower than the list price of all other incretin medicines for obesity.
Lilly announced Tuesday that 2.5 mg and 5 mg single-dose vials of the drug are available to self-pay patients with an on-label prescription, which the company said was part of its effort to ease access to the drug. The 2.5 mg dose is $99.75 per vial, or $399 a month, and the 5 mg vial is $137.25 per vial, or $549 a month.
Lilly’s group VP for US cardiometabolic health Rhonda Pacheco told Endpoints News that there were three things driving the company’s new offering.
“One was to expand the supply for patients living with obesity. Two was increasing access to Zepbound, especially the Medicare population, and at a different price point,” Pacheco said. “Then, three, provide a trusted source of Zepbound to patients living with obesity to get genuine Lilly medicine.”
Patients with an on-label prescription can purchase the vials through Lilly’s direct sales channel, called LillyDirect.
“It’s significant step in the right direction to increase supply, also knowing we are completely committed to doing all we can to meet to meet the demands of people living with obesity,” Pacheco said.
In Congress, Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has been a frequent critic of the cost of weight loss and diabetes drugs, but called Lilly’s move a “modest step forward,” though said that “millions of Americans will still be unable to afford the diabetes and weight-loss drugs they desperately need.”
Separate from the new vials, Lilly raised the cost of Zepbound for US patients under its patient assistance program from $550 to $650, Sanders pointed out. When Zepbound was first approved last year, Lilly said that patients with commercial insurance without coverage for Zepbound could pay as low as $550 for a month’s supply. The company’s website now reflects a $650 price tag for those same patients.
Lilly didn’t immediately respond to a question about the assistance program change.
The drug is still officially in shortage, according to the FDA’s tracker, but earlier this month, all doses of Zepbound and Mounjaro were listed as available. That’s a change from April, when all but 2.5 mg of Zepbound were listed as experiencing “limited availability.”
Lilly, along with its competitor Novo Nordisk, has been taking steps to push back against independent compounding pharmacies and medical spas that have marketed versions of the drug, and has sued medical spas, wellness centers and compounding pharmacies across several states for selling unapproved and compounded versions of tirzepatide.