Eli Lilly is unleashing new ammunition in its fight against cheaper, compounded versions of its obesity blockbuster Zepbound.
The Indiana-based drugmaker is slashing the prices of its 2.5 mg single-dose vials to $349 per month and bringing its 5 mg single-dose vials down to $499 per month, it said in a Tuesday press release. Last year, Lilly debuted the single-dose Zepbound vials at $399 for the 2.5 mg dose and $549 in its 5 mg dose strength, making the new prices $50 cheaper.
The prices are for patients who pay for the drugs by themselves without using insurance. In a statement, Lilly Cardiometabolic Health president Patrik Jonsson noted that while obesity is recognized as a chronic disease, "insurance and federal programs do not systematically cover people living with obesity for medical care" in the U.S.
"Lilly is committed to working with all parties to solve this problem, and in the meantime, we'll continue to implement new options that improve the affordability and availability of our safe, approved and studied Zepbound for patients who are being asked to pay out-of-pocket," Jonsson said.
Importantly, the single-dose vials need to be loaded into a syringe and injected by patients themselves, Bloomberg reports. Zepbound's more convenient injector pens carry a list price of about twice the monthly cost of the single-dose vials, according to the news service.
Meanwhile, joining the lower-dose vial strengths are new 7.5 mg and 10 mg single-dose vials. Those doses are available for $499 per month through the drugmaker's online pharmacy, but only for patients' first fills and refills made within 45 days of prior delivery.
When it first picked up its obesity nod in 2023, Zepbound's biggest rival was Novo Nordisk and its semaglutide-based products Wegovy and Ozempic. While Novo and Lilly still dominate the branded GLP-1 drug market, both drugmakers have been competing with cheaper, compounded copycats of the medicines in the U.S.
With both Novo and Lilly’s offerings facing shortages throughout the years due to immense demand, compounders harnessed their chance to market their products while the originals were on the FDA shortage list. Lilly’s Zepbound and diabetes counterpart Mounjaro made it off the list last October and Novo’s semaglutide drugs achieved the same result last week, marking one key step in the end of the GLP-1 knockoff market.
However, the FDA granted a grace period for tirzepatide compounders that lasts until March 19 for some pharmacies. The issue is still held up in court after a compounding industry group filed an October lawsuit urging the FDA to reserve its declaration of the end of the shortage. Lilly recently filed a motion to join the litigation to “protect its interests and help bring this suit to a swift end,” arguing that its $23 billion manufacturing scale-up made all doses available months before the shortage was formally announced as over.
Meanwhile, Novo’s more recent escape from the shortage list prompted shares of telehealth company Hims & Hers to sink 26% by market close on the day of the Feb. 21 announcement, CNBC reported. On Monday, Hims & Hers said it will stop offering compounded semaglutide after the first quarter of this year, The Wall Street Journal reports, prompting another selloff in the stock.