Lilly offers Zepbound weight loss drug in vials to ease supply issues

Eli Lilly said Tuesday that it will start providing low-dose vials of its obesity drug Zepbound through its direct-to-consumer platform, a move that will likely ease supply constraints and draw more patients to the company’s online portal.

Lilly is also selling the vials at a discount to the currently available injectable pens, which carry a list price of $1,060 for a month’s supply. Under the new offering, which is meant for patients paying on their own without insurance, 2.5-mg vials will cost $399 for one month’s supply, and 5-mg vials will cost $549, roughly the equivalent of the average monthly payment for a used car.

Dosages of Zepbound pens go up to 10 and 15 mg, but Lilly is only offering low-doses vials for now and will evaluate the possibility of selling high-dose vials later on, Patrik Jonsson, an executive vice president at Lilly, said in an interview.