Eli Lilly $LLY ( ▲ 1.45% ) just took another swing at rival Novo Nordisk $NVO ( ▲ 1.87% ) in the booming obesity drug market, lowering the cash-pay price of its blockbuster weight-loss shot Zepbound on its direct-to-consumer pharmacy platform.
Starting Monday, cash-paying patients can get Zepbound for $299 to $449 a month depending on dose, down from the previous $349 to $499 range. Novo sparked the latest round of cuts two weeks ago when it reduced the cash-pay price of Wegovy. Lilly’s approach gives it extra room to discount since it sells Zepbound in vial form, which is cheaper to produce than Novo’s single-use pens.
Both companies’ weight-loss and diabetes drugs still carry list prices above $1,000, but selling directly allows them to bypass insurers and bring down out-of-pocket costs for patients. At the same time, they’re fighting off rising competition from telehealth players like Hims and Hers $HIMS ( ▲ 1.93% ) , which sells semaglutide for about $200 a month, often paid upfront in multi-month bundles.
Lilly and Novo have also agreed to lower the prices paid by the federal government and will offer discounted versions of their shots through TrumpRx, a new government direct-to-consumer platform launching next year.