More than 20,000 people are taking Eli Lilly’s new GLP-1 weight loss pill approved earlier this month, and company executives expect that number to keep growing as Lilly continues its hold on the weight loss drug market.
The first round of prescription data on the new drug Foundayo came April 30 during a virtual earnings call in which executives at the Indianapolis pharmaceutical company announced more than $19 billion in revenue last quarter.
With the oral GLP-1 medication on the market for just a few weeks, it appears Lilly has reached a new group of providers and consumers: About a third of healthcare providers prescribing Foundayo had not prescribed GLP-1s before, Lilly executives said in a virtual earnings call.
Eli Lilly rolled out Foundayo, a once-daily weight loss pill based on the same molecule structure as Mounjaro and Zepbound, in the United States broadly on April 9 after receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration the week before.
Less than a month later, the company has hit the 20,000 mark for the drug and negotiated access to some Medicare patients. Company leaders are happy with the rollout so far and bullish that the number of those taking the drug will only increase.
Patients are eager to get the drug on their own, with about 45% of users obtaining the pill through LillyDirect, the company’s direct-to-consumer service medicine business. Through the service, patients who have a prescription from their provider buy obesity, diabetes and migraine medicine directly from Lilly online and get it shipped to their home.
“The current sentiment so far from what we’ve seen is positive on a daily oral GLP-1 if you want it, and that is important,” Lilly executive vice president Ilya Yuffa told investors.
By mid-May, two of the three major U.S. pharmacy benefit managers will offer Foundayo, and some Medicare users will have access starting July 1 through the GLP-1 bridge program. Prices of the drug can vary, but people with insurance could pay as little as $25 a month for Foundayo through Amazon.
The FDA approval of Foundayo followed on the heels of the Wegovy weight loss pill approved for the U.S. drug market in December by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
Lilly has already been having enormous success with its class of GLP-1 drugs, including Mounjaro and Zepbound, the company’s once-daily injectables, which received FDA approval in 2022 and 2023, respectively.
Out of Lilly’s $19 billion in total revenue in the first quarter of the year, $4.2 billion came from Zepbound distribution, an 80% growth compared to the year prior. Zepbound, while primarily approved by the FDA for obstructive sleep apnea for people with obesity, is more commonly used for weight loss. Meanwhile, international prescriptions of Mounjaro, approved for type 2 diabetes, drove home a big quarter for Lilly.
Lilly has activated its direct-to-consumer campaign for Foundayo earlier than most drugs the company launches, as the model of getting prescriptions in the hands of patients without a middleman gains steam among those wanting to lose weight. Consumers are also already familiar with the molecule the pill utilizes, executives said.
Lilly will launch a full-scale consumer promotional campaign later this year, as the Indianapolis drugmaker sits on a large inventory of the medicine. About 70% of adults in the U.S. are overweight or struggle with obesity, meaning the potential number of candidates for the drug has a high ceiling.
“You’re pointing out something that is consumers wanting to take charge of their health and activate the digital platforms to control weight and obesity,” Lilly CEO Dave Ricks told investors. “I think it’s here to stay and probably something we need to continue to invest in.”
Lilly has yet to receive approval for use in other countries. Shares of Lilly were up more than 10% after the earnings call Thursday.
Alysa Guffey writes business and development stories for IndyStar. Contact her at alysa.guffey@indystar.com.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: More than 20k people on oral weight loss pill as Lilly ramps up access
Reporting by Alysa Guffey, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
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