Lilly’s readiness to bring affordability by cutting down Zepbound prices

Announcement

After Novo Nordisk reduced the price of its renowned GLP-1 medicines, Eli Lilly is set to put a discount tag on its obesity drug (Zepbound), available via LillyDirect. Here, both pharma companies are trying to reach patients with affordable drugs, but they are stuck in negotiations with the White House over the yet-to-be-introduced TrumpRx program. Eli Lilly’s Zepbound price cut will be an addition to the GLP-1 pricing fire.

Lilly’s drug price-cutting initiative will bring relief to the patients who seek affordable, effective drugs. This is indeed a major initiative from the company’s end in the vast healthcare sector.

New price structure

The new price will be for Zepbound single-dose vials, which are purchased via the company’s direct-to-consumer (DTC) platform, LillyDirect. This price change will introduce the price of one-month supply of the drugs containing a low dose (2.5 mg), that suggested as a starting dose that will be reduced from $349 to $299, and the 5-mg dose prices reduced from $499 to $399 per month.

Every dose starting from 7.5, 10, 13.5 and 15 mg will be reduced from $499 to $449 per month. This announcement is slightly similar to competitor Novo Nordisk’s move made on 17^th November that they will deliver a self-pay option to the patient population by offering the availability of its own GLP1 drugs Ozempic and Wegovy for worth $199 per month.

For the investors, the BMO Capital Markets analyst noted, “Though Lilly is cutting down prices for cash pay Zepbound, we still think this pricing is at near the premium value, same as Novo’s cash pay Wegovy.” This pricing cycle got speed after Novo and Lilly got into the partnership with the U.S Federal Government to deliver their GLP-1 medicines with a discount rate via Medicare and TrumpRx, a DTC platform, which is yet to be launched.

The difference between Novo and Lilly’s drug price-cutting strategy

Ozempic, a Novo drug for diabetes and obesity, and Wegovy cut their prices from $1,000 and $1,350 per month, and $350 per month on purchase from the TrumpRx platform. Whereas Lilly’s orfoglipron and Zepbound drugs will be sold at an average of $346.

BMO Analyst added, “We repeat that the main comparison speaks about the classification between the product’s ultimate net price and another is the newly discounted price involving rebates rather than aiming at list prices.”