Eli Lilly’s Zepbound makes leaps and bounds in weight-loss drug market

In the last week, Eli Lilly has announced their partnership with Amazon.com’s pharmacy unit to deliver prescriptions of Zepbound. Zepbound has also surpassed Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy for the number of prescriptions for the week of March 8. 

Amazon.com’s pharmacy unity will deliver drug prescriptions of Zepbound made through Eli Lilly’s direct-to-consumer service LillyDirect. LillyDirect was launched in January 2024 to enable access to migraine, diabetes, and obesity drugs for patients directly from the company via online pharmacy Truepill. With the Amazon.com partnership, prescriptions made to LillyDirect will now either be filled and delivered by Amazon Pharmacy or Truepill. Orders will be split between the two companies.  

Surging demand for weight-loss drugs such as Zepbound and Wegovy was the impetus for LillyDirect launching. The market is expected to reach US$100 billion by the end of the 2020s. A spokesperson for the drugmaker states that they “looked forward to continuing to enhance LillyDirect with additional medicines, partners, and service providers in the near future.” 

The demand for weight-loss drug products does not seem to be slowing any time soon – on March 15, data from IQVIA revealed that new prescriptions for Zepbound reached over 77,000 in the US. This would be the first time prescriptions for Zepbound have surpassed Wegovy since their respective launches. Zepbound launched in the US in December 2023, over 2 years after Wegovy’s approval. 

Earlier this month, Wegovy was approved in the US for the indication of reducing risk of strokes and heart attacks in overweight or obese adults. Eli Lilly also produces the diabetes drug Mounjaro, which contains the same API as Zepbound. Mounjaro is forecasted by GlobalData to be the top-selling GLP-1 product by 2029.   

Sources: 

1. Lilly partners with Amazon to deliver Zepbound and other drugs [Accessed March 19, 2024] https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-weight-loss-drug-zepbound-new-us-prescriptions-surpass-wegovy-first-time-2024-03-15/  

2. Lilly weight-loss drug Zepbound new US prescriptions surpass Wegovy for first time [Accessed March 19, 2024] https://www.reuters.com/business/healthcare-pharmaceuticals/lilly-weight-loss-drug-zepbound-new-us-prescriptions-surpass-wegovy-first-time-2024-03-15/