Sanders calls Lilly's Zepbound vial pricing a "modest step forward"
Sanders praised Lilly's new $399 and $549 self-pay Zepbound vials as a "modest step forward" but flagged a quiet increase in the savings-card price from $550 to $650 and no cut to Mounjaro.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) called Eli Lilly's new lower-priced Zepbound vials a "modest step forward" on Aug. 27, 2024, while criticizing the company for simultaneously raising the price some patients pay for Zepbound pens and for leaving the price of Mounjaro untouched [1].
Lilly announced that day that it would begin selling Zepbound (tirzepatide) in single-dose vials through its LillyDirect self-pay channel, with a month's supply of the 2.5 mg starter dose priced at $399 and a month of the 5 mg dose at $549 [2]. Previously, Lilly sold Zepbound only in injectable pens at a list price of $1,060 for a month's supply [2]. The vial prices apply to a self-pay option, meaning people with a valid on-label prescription can buy directly from Lilly if they have no insurance or have insurance that does not cover the drug [2].
Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said the reduction from "over $1,000 a month to $399 a month" for the starter dose, and $549 for the second dose, was "good news" [1]. He pointed to an op-ed he co-authored with President Biden last month demanding that Lilly and Novo Nordisk substantially lower US prices [1]. Biden also posted on social media that he was "pleased" by the discount, though he urged drug companies to cut prices "across the board" [2].
The part that wasn't in the press release
Sanders called out what he labeled "bad news": Lilly raised the price Americans pay for Zepbound pens under its savings-card program from $550 to $650 a month [1]. That card applies to patients whose insurance plans do not cover the drug, and the change amounts to a nearly 20 percent increase [2]. The increase was not mentioned in Lilly's announcement of the vials, and Lilly did not respond to Ars Technica's request for comment or questions about why it raised the price for some patients [2].
Sanders also said Lilly "has still refused to lower the outrageous price of Mounjaro," the tirzepatide product approved for type 2 diabetes [1]. "There is no rational reason, other than greed, why Mounjaro should cost $1,069 a month in the United States but just $485 in the United Kingdom and $94 in Japan," he said [1].
Even with the reduction, Sanders argued, "millions of Americans will still be unable to afford the diabetes and weight-loss drugs they desperately need," and he said that at current prices "Medicare would likely go bankrupt" [1]. A HELP Committee report released in May concluded that uptake of these drugs stands to "bankrupt our entire health care system" given US prices and demand [2].
Why it matters for patients
The practical effect depends on which package and payment route a person uses. The $399 and $549 prices cover only the two lowest Zepbound strengths, 2.5 mg and 5 mg, in single-dose vials bought through Lilly's self-pay channel [2]. Zepbound is also sold in 7.5 mg, 10 mg, 12.5 mg and 15 mg strengths, and the recommended maintenance doses are 5 mg, 10 mg or 15 mg [2]. In the SURMOUNT-1 trial, people on 15 mg lost an average of 21 percent of their weight over 17 months, compared with 15 percent on 5 mg [2]. That means people who move above 5 mg were, at the time of this announcement, back to pen pricing — and that route got more expensive for savings-card users, going from $550 to $650 [2].
For people with type 2 diabetes taking Mounjaro, the announcement changed nothing on price, according to Sanders' statement [1]. It is not yet known from these sources whether Lilly planned further list-price cuts to either product. Ars Technica also noted the scale of the remaining cost: at $549 a month, the drug runs a little above the $523 average monthly used-car payment in the first quarter of 2024, per Experian [2].
What happens next
Sanders said he looked forward to questioning the CEO of Novo Nordisk at a HELP Committee hearing on Sept. 24 and to "engaging with Eli Lilly" to push for further list-price reductions on Zepbound and Mounjaro [1]. Zepbound, first approved Nov. 8, 2023, is supplied in both single-dose pens and single-dose vials [3].
Sources
- https://www.sanders.senate.gov/press-releases/news-sanders-statement-on-eli-lillys-decision-to-lower-the-starter-price-of-blockbuster-weight-loss-drug-zepbound/
- https://arstechnica.com/science/2024/08/eli-lilly-raises-price-of-zepbound-while-trumpeting-discount-on-starter-vials/
- https://www.drugs.com/history/zepbound.html
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