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Eli Lilly is slashing the price of its blockbuster weight loss drug, Zepbound, offering new, single-dose vials, the company announced on August 27.
Self-pay patients with an on-label prescription can purchase 2.5-mg and 5-mg single-dose vials of Zepbound at roughly 50% off the drug’s list price through the pharma giant’s direct-to-consumer website, LillyDirect, which launched in January. This is the first time the drugmaker has offered the drug in single-dose vials rather than an autoinjector.
“These new vials not only help us meet the high demand for our obesity medicine, but also broaden access for patients seeking a safe and effective treatment option,” Patrik Jonsson, EVP of Eli Lilly and Company, president of Lilly Cardiometabolic Health, and president of Lilly USA, said in a press release on Tuesday.
A month’s supply will now cost $399 for the 2.5-mg dose vials and $549 for the 5-mg dose. In comparison, the original autoinjectable version of Zepbound comes with a list price of about $1,060 per month on drug marketplace GoodRx.com.
Straining the budget. GLP-1 costs have been an issue for both patients and payers, with 96% of employers concerned about long-term cost implications, Healthcare Brew previously reported.
Typically, patients taking GLP-1 drugs for weight loss start with a 2.5-mg dose, which is then increased gradually up to 15 mg and later reduced to smaller maintenance doses, CNBC reported. Patients taking doses over 5 mg per month will still need to use the autoinjector form of Zepbound, but Jonsson told Stat that Eli Lilly will consider selling higher-dose vials at a later date.
The new Zepbound vials require patients to use a syringe and needle to inject themselves rather than the autoinjector pens, which inject the drug with a click of a button. Eli Lilly said this will help maintain its supply, as the vials are easier to manufacture than the autoinjectors, CNBC reported. There has been a shortage of the drug for months as the drug maker struggles to keep up with patient demand.
The move to make Zepbound available without having to go through insurance expands access to Medicare beneficiaries, who currently do not get coverage through the federal program for the weight loss drug.
Eli Lilly executives claimed that making Zepbound available only through LillyDirect also makes it certain that patients aren’t receiving counterfeit versions. Hundreds of websites have been found to be selling fake versions of GLP-1 drugs, Reuters reported.