Eli Lilly launches website to help patients get weight loss drugs
Drugmaker Eli Lilly has launched a new website that will allow patients to get a weight loss drug prescription through a telehealth appointment, NBC News reported. The move will likely improve access to the mega-popular drugs, including Eli Lilly’s recently approved drug Zepbound.
The website, LillyDirect, is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company and comes less than two months after the Food and Drug Administration approved Zepbound. The drug is the latest weight-loss product from the GLP-1 agonists line, which includes Noro Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
READ MORE: What is Zepbound? FDA approves new weight loss drug
Lilly CEO David Ricks told NBC News the platform will make it easier for patients to access the drugs, both through telehealth and direct delivery of Zepbound. It will not, however, provide discounts and the medication can run more than $1,000 for a month’s supply and are often not covered by insurance.
Telehealth services will be provided through Form Health.
Patients using the site will still be required to meet the criteria for weight loss and will be required to meet via video with a doctor on an ongoing basis, typically once a month.