(Reuters) – Eli Lilly launched a U.S. website on Thursday to help people with obesity get prescriptions from remote health care providers and provide home delivery of its weight-loss drugs.
The launch of the service, called LillyDirect, follows the launch of its obesity drug Zepbound last month. The weight loss drug market is expected to generate around $100 billion (€91.40 billion) by the end of the decade.
The very high demand for effective treatments, such as Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, has led to a serious shortage in the United States.
This direct-to-consumer service will also be available for people suffering from diabetes and migraines.
The website will connect patients with independent telehealth providers in addition to their usual treating physician or as an alternative to in-person care for certain conditions, the laboratory said.
The site will also offer a pharmacy offering provided by third parties, as part of Eli Lilly’s so-called “end-to-end” service.
“This is an option that has never been offered before for prescription drugs,” the group’s chief executive, David Ricks, told NBC News.
The company added that it does not encourage the use of its obesity and diabetes treatments, Mounjaro and Zepbound, outside of their authorized use, and that it opposes their use for the purposes of “cosmetic weight loss”.
In September, Eli Lilly filed lawsuits against ten medical spas, wellness centers and pharmacies in the United States for selling products claiming to contain tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound.
(Writing by Leroy Leo in Bangalore, Dagmarah Mackos, editing by Kate Entringer)
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