Eli Lilly to Sell Weight Loss Drugs Directly to Patients

The platform offers access to Mounjaro and Zepbound by connecting patients with telehealth professionals for evaluation.

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Eli Lilly has launched a first-of-its-kind website, LillyDirect, that allows patients to access popular weight loss medications like Mounjaro and Zepbound more easily.

Through partnerships with telehealth providers, the platform enables medical evaluations and prescriptions. Once prescribed, the medications are then directly delivered to the patient’s home through affiliated pharmacy services.

This new direct-to-patient prescription and delivery model aims to simplify and streamline obtaining these high-demand treatments, removing barriers of transportation, access, and convenience for those eligible.

How It Will Work

The service is open to patients who have a body mass index (BMI) of at least 30, which falls within the obesity range, or a BMI of at least 27 if they also have at least one other weight-related condition. Patients with BMIs between 25 and 29.9 are considered overweight. LillyDirect also serves patients with diabetes and migraines.

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The platform offers a directory of telehealth providers specifically serving these patient populations. These providers were selected based on factors like the robustness of their medical practices and prioritization of patient safety, according to the website.

The telehealth providers will work with patients to determine the optimal course of treatment on a case-by-case basis. This may or may not include prescription of Eli Lilly products. Neither Lilly nor the telehealth providers receive incentives or compensation from one another for prescribing specific medications, according to the website.

If an Eli Lilly product is prescribed, patients can enter their prescription information into the LillyDirect platform to have their medication shipped directly to them. Lilly has partnered with accredited pharmacy service providers EVERSANA and TruePill to facilitate medication fulfillment and delivery.

How Much It Will Cost

The new service comes at a time when Eli Lilly ranks as the most valuable pharmaceutical company in the world, thanks to the success of Zepbound, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration in November 2023, and Mounjaro. As of October 2023, Lilly boasted a market capitalization nearing $500 billion.

The launch of LillyDirect coincides with soaring obesity rates in the U.S., where over 42 percent of adults are considered obese and severe obesity affects 1 in 11.

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Despite high demand—in the U.S., where prescription drug spending is nearly double that of peer nations—prescription weight-loss medications still come at a steep price.

Lilly’s Zepbound and Mounjaro costing $1,069 and $1,059, respectively without insurance. Patients with insurance can expect to pay about half that. Competitor drug Ozempic by Novo Nordisk costs approximately $900 monthly for uninsured patients as well.

Many American patients struggle to afford these obesity treatments on their own. To help mitigate prohibitively high out-of-pocket costs, LillyDirect offers access to Lilly’s affordability programs including savings cards and discounts for eligible patients.

For example, insured patients whose coverage includes Zepbound could pay $25 per monthly fill using a Lilly savings card. Uninsured patients may also qualify for discounted Zepbound rates as low as $550 per month. Discounts vary but extend even to low-income government-subsidized coverage like Medicare, Medicaid, Veterans Affairs, and TRICARE.