Eli Lilly cuts money costs of Zepbound weight reduction drug vials

Eli Lilly on Monday stated it’s decreasing the money costs of single-dose vials of its blockbuster weight reduction drug Zepbound on its direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, constructing on efforts by the corporate and the Trump administration to make the drugs extra accessible.

The announcement additionally comes weeks after chief rival Novo Nordisk unveiled extra reductions on the money costs of its weight problems and diabetes medicine. 

Beginning Monday, cash-paying sufferers with a sound prescription can get the beginning dose of Zepbound vials for as little as $299 per 30 days on LillyDirect, down from a earlier value of $349 per 30 days. They’ll additionally entry the following dose, 5 milligrams, for $399 per 30 days and all different doses for $449 per 30 days, down from $499 per 30 days throughout these sizes. 

Zepbound carries a listing value of roughly $1,086 per 30 days. That value level, and spotty insurance coverage protection for weight reduction medicine within the U.S., have been vital limitations to entry for some sufferers. 

Eli Lilly’s announcement comes simply weeks after President Donald Trump inked offers with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to make their GLP-1 medicine simpler for People to get and afford. The agreements will minimize the costs the federal government pays for the medicine, introduce Medicare protection of weight problems medicine for the primary time for sure sufferers and supply discounted medicines on the federal government’s new direct-to-consumer web site launching in January, TrumpRx. 

However Eli Lilly’s cope with Trump facilities round decreasing the costs of a special type of Zepbound – a multi-dose pen – after it wins Meals and Drug Administration approval. 

Which means Eli Lilly’s Monday announcement round reducing costs on the present single-dose vials may enable extra sufferers to get discounted remedies extra shortly. 

“We are going to preserve working to supply extra choices — increasing selections for supply gadgets and creating new pathways for entry — so extra folks can get the medicines they want,” stated Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly USA and international buyer capabilities, in an announcement. 

With single-dose vials, sufferers want to make use of a syringe and needle to attract up the drugs and inject it into themselves. Eli Lilly first launched that kind of Zepbound in August 2024. 

It is unclear what number of sufferers are at the moment utilizing single-dose vials of Zepbound. However Eli Lilly beforehand stated that direct-to-consumer gross sales now account for greater than a 3rd of recent prescriptions of Zepbound. 

Novo Nordisk earlier this month lowered the worth of its weight problems drug Wegovy and diabetes remedy Ozempic for present cash-paying sufferers to $349 per 30 days from $499 per 30 days. That excludes the best dose of Ozempic. 

The corporate additionally launched a short lived introductory supply, which can enable new cash-paying sufferers to entry the 2 lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 per 30 days for the primary two months of remedy.