Sanders calls Lilly's Zepbound vial price cut a 'modest step forward'
Cheaper starter vials for cash buyers came alongside a $100 increase for some insured patients using Zepbound pens, with Mounjaro's US price unchanged.
Sen. Bernie Sanders gave Eli Lilly's new lower prices for starter doses of the weight-loss drug Zepbound (tirzepatide) a mixed review on Aug. 27, 2024. The Vermont independent, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, described the reduction as a "modest step forward" in a statement issued the same day Lilly announced the change [1].
Lilly now sells the two lowest doses in single-dose vials instead of pens only. A month's supply costs $399 at 2.5 mg and $549 at 5 mg [1][2]. Those figures apply to self-pay purchases: the vials go to patients who pay cash, including people whose insurance does not cover the drug or who have no coverage at all, and who hold a prescription written for an approved use [2]. Before the change, Zepbound was sold only as injectable pens, listed at $1,060 for a month [2]. Sanders said the starter dose had been priced above $1,000 a month [1].
The "bad news," in his words, arrived in the same announcement. Lilly's savings card — which lets patients whose insurance plans turn down the drug buy a month of pens at any dose — had been $550 and is now $650, an increase of nearly 20 percent [1][2]. Lilly did not answer questions from Ars Technica about the reason for the higher price and did not respond to a request for comment [2].
Sanders also faulted the company for leaving Mounjaro alone. That drug contains the same active ingredient as Zepbound but is approved for type 2 diabetes. He said it costs $1,069 a month in the United States, compared with $485 in the United Kingdom and $94 in Japan. "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][2].
Lilly framed the vials as an access measure. "This new option helps millions of adults with obesity access the medicine they need," the company said [2]. James Zervos, chief operating officer of the nonprofit Obesity Action Coalition, said in Lilly's announcement that "expanding coverage and affordability of treatments is vital to people living with obesity" [2]. President Biden posted that he was pleased by the discount but urged drugmakers to cut prices "across the board" [2].
Zepbound won FDA approval on Nov. 8, 2023, for chronic weight management and later for obstructive sleep apnea; tirzepatide first reached the market as Mounjaro in May 2022 for type 2 diabetes [3]. The medicine comes in six strengths from 2.5 mg to 15 mg, with 5 mg, 10 mg and 15 mg used for maintenance [2]. In one trial, people on 15 mg lost an average of 21 percent of their body weight over 17 months, while those on 5 mg lost 15 percent [2].
Why it matters for patients
The cost depends on which version of the drug someone buys and how they pay. The $399 and $549 figures cover only the two lowest doses in vials, purchased without insurance [1][2]. A patient whose plan refuses to cover Zepbound and who relies on the savings card for pens now pays $100 more each month [1][2]. Mounjaro's US list price was unchanged [1].
For comparison, $549 a month — the 5 mg vial price — is a bit more than the average monthly payment on a used car, which Experian put at $523 in the first quarter of 2024 [2]. Sanders said that even after the cut, "millions of Americans will still be unable to afford the diabetes and weight-loss drugs they desperately need," and he warned that Medicare "would likely go bankrupt" at current prices [1]. A report from the HELP Committee, which he chairs, concluded in May 2024 that uptake of these drugs could "bankrupt our entire health care system" [2].
Whether the lower vial prices will be extended to higher doses or offered to patients using insurance has not been announced.
What happens next
Sanders said he expects to question the CEO of Novo Nordisk about the cost of diabetes and weight-loss drugs at a HELP Committee hearing on Sept. 24 [1]. He also said he will keep pressing Lilly to reduce US list prices for Zepbound and Mounjaro [1]. No further price changes from Lilly have been announced.
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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