Eli Lilly slashes spot prices on bottles of Zepbound weight-loss drug

Elie Lilly announced Monday that it is reducing spot prices for single-dose vials of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound on its direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, building on efforts by the company and the Trump administration to make the drug more accessible.

This announcement also comes a few weeks after that of its main rival Novo Nordisk unveiled additional discounts on cash prices for its obesity and diabetes drugs.

Starting Monday, cash-paying patients with a valid prescription can get the initial dose of Zepbound vials for as little as $299 per month on LillyDirect, down from the previous price of $349 per month. They can also access the next dose, 5 milligrams, for $399 per month and all other doses for $449 per month, compared to $499 per month for those sizes.

Zepbound has a list price of around $1,086 per month. This price level and inconsistent insurance coverage for weight-loss medications in the United States pose significant barriers to access for some patients.

Eli Lilly’s announcement comes just weeks after President Donald Trump signed deals with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to make their GLP-1 drugs easier for Americans to obtain and purchase. The agreements will reduce the prices the government pays for drugs, introduce Medicare coverage of obesity drugs for the first time for some patients and offer discounted drugs on the government’s new direct-to-consumer website launched in January, TrumpRx.

But Eli Lilly’s deal with Trump involves lowering prices for a different form of Zepbound — a multidose pen — after winning approval from the Food and Drug Administration.

That means Eli Lilly’s Monday announcement about reducing prices on existing single-dose vials could allow more patients to get discounted treatments more quickly.

“We will continue to work to provide more options – expanding delivery device choices and creating new pathways – so more people can get the medications they need,” Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly USA and global customer capabilities, said in a statement.

With single-dose vials, patients must use a syringe and needle to draw up the medication and inject it. Eli Lilly first introduced this form of Zepbound in August 2024.

It is unclear how many patients are currently using single-dose vials of Zepbound. But Eli Lilly has previously said that direct-to-consumer sales now account for more than a third of Zepbound’s new prescriptions.

Novo Nordisk earlier this month lowered the price of its obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic for existing paying patients, from $499 per month to $349 per month. This excludes the highest dose of Ozempic.

The company also launched a temporary introductory offer, which will allow new cash-paying patients access to the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 per month for the first two months of treatment.