Zepbound’s injection pen, Eli Lilly’s weight loss pill, was presented in New York City on December 11, 2023.
Brendan McDermid | Reuters
Yililai On Tuesday, the higher doses of single-dose vials of weight loss medication were higher, with an average monthly price of up to half to attract more patients without insurance coverage, such as those using Medicare.
It expands the company’s efforts to boost demand surges in the U.S. and ensures that eligible patients can safely get actual treatments instead of cheaper composite versions.
Eli Lilly now offers higher doses of Zepbound in single-dose vials through its direct-to-consumer website LillyDirect, which starts Provide lower doses of medication In a small bottle for August. Eligible patients diagnosed by individual or obese healthcare providers or with obstructive sleep apnea Newly approved use – These bottles can be paid on the website.
When patients first prescribe, the company sells 7.5 mg and 10 mg vials of Zepbound for $499 per month and is replenished within 45 days of last delivery. Otherwise, the prices for both doses are $599 and $699, respectively.
Also on Tuesday, Eli Lilly said that this would reduce the price of Zepbound’s low-dose vials by $50. According to the press release, the price of this 2.5 mg vial is $349 and the price of a 5 mg vial is now $499.
The patient must use a syringe and needle from Single dose vial And inject yourself. This is different from a single dose Self-injector thinksthe current available form of all Zepbough doses, patients can inject it directly under the skin by clicking a button.
Yili said those small bottles More medicines available Because they are easier to manufacture than auto-injector pens, the latter is priced at about $1,000 a month before insurance.
Patients usually start treatment at a 2.5 mg dose for four weeks, then gradually increase the amount per week, and then take so-called maintenance doses to lose weight. Yili Lilly does not currently provide Maximum dose Zepbound (12.5 mg and 15 mg) in single dose vials.
The lower price per single-dose vial will benefit patients willing to pay for Zepbound and participate in an employer-funded health program that does not cover obesity treatment.
“Without the full coverage of people suffering from obesity like other chronic diseases, we are just trying to fill the room and offer more affordable solutions, especially for the Medicare population, as none of our affordable solutions can be Apply to them.
Medicare beneficiaries also do not meet Eli Lilly’s Zepbough savings card program. Jonson said “in an ideal world,” the Trump administration will formulate proposed rules proposed by the Biden administration to cover Medicare’s drug coverage. Robert F. Kennedy Jr., secretary of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, is skeptical about weight loss medication.
Some have turned to more complex pharmacies that have made cheaper Zepbough because brand treatment is too expensive and has not been short of it until recent months. Since then, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has Announce However, the Zepbound shortage will soon stop the production of these drugs in many compound pharmacies.
Jonson said Eli Lilly “does not compete with compounds for prices,” adding that the company does not believe that “the market for large-scale compounding still has one.”
He said Tuesday’s announcement helped ensure “don’t rely on counterfeits that are not approved by the FDA for safety, effectiveness and quality.”
Zepbound Vial launch progress
Eli Lilly declined to say how many patients have been ordering vials from LillyDirect so far, but Jonsson said: “The absorption is really good.”
He said through LillyDirect’s out-of-pocket drug-filled Zepbound prescription, the pharmacy offers single-dose vials that could be the lower to the middle of the mid-digit number of the wider obesity market.
Jonson added that about 10% of new patients in the obesity market use Zepbound through Eli Lilly Dillack’s out-of-pocket pharmacy. He said that firing vials with 7.5 mg and 10 mg doses would increase that number.
Launched in January 2024, LillyDirect connects people with an independent telemedicine company that can prescribe some medications if patients are eligible. If the prescribed treatment is Eli Lilly, the site also offers home delivery options, tapping on a third-party online pharmacy to fill in the prescription and sending it directly to the patient.
In December, direct-to-consumer healthcare startup RO said platform Will also be provided Single dose vial pass New partnership and Eli Lilly.
