American pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly has started selling higher doses of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound in vials, at a $150 discount to the cost of the injector pen versions.
Lilly's new offer of $499 per month is still higher than the $231 to $330 compounding pharmacies typically charge for their versions of Zepbound and Wegovy in the U.S., although compounders have been told to cease selling their copies in the coming months.
Patrik Jonsson, Eli Lilly's president of cardiometabolic health, said more than 10 percent of patients starting on Zepbound have been initiated on vials since their launch.
Lilly said patients must refill their prescriptions of the two higher dose vials within 45 days of their first fill to get the same pricing, and would otherwise have to pay as much as $699 for repeat prescriptions.
Lilly is looking for ways to stimulate further demand for Zepbound this year to help ease investor agitation over signs of weakness in sales, and to better compete with Danish rival Novo Nordisk's popular Wegovy.
