Drugmaker Eli Lilly announced on Thursday a new website that will allow patients to get a weight loss drug prescription through a telehealth provider — a move, the company says, that will improve access to the extremely popular and effective drugs, including its recently approved drug, Zepbound.
The new website, called LillyDirect, joins a growing list of platforms like Weight Watchers and Ro offering weight loss drugs through telehealth, but is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company.
It comes less than two months after the Food and Drug Administration approved Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound. The drug is the latest entrant into the field of the powerful — and pricy — class of medications called GLP-1 agonists, which includes Lilly’s Mounjaro as well as Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy.
“We’re used to buying consumer goods directly from manufacturers all the time on online websites,” said Lilly CEO David Ricks. “It really hasn’t been an option that’s been provided before” for prescription drugs.
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Ricks said the new platform will make it easier for patients to access the drugs, cutting out the need to go to the doctor to get a prescription and then to a pharmacy to fill it. Patients who are prescribed Zepbound will be eligible for Lilly’s at-home prescription delivery service.
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