Eli Lilly drops Canadian Mounjaro, Zepbound list prices to $300 for starting doses
A four-week supply of Mounjaro or Zepbound in Canada is set to fall to as low as $300, signalling a meaningful shift in pricing for two of the most closely watched diabetes and weight-loss drugs.
According to Reuters, the Globe and Mail reported that Eli Lilly plans to cut the Canadian list price of a four-week supply of Mounjaro and Zepbound to $300 for the 2.5 mg and 5 mg doses, and to $420 for the 7.5 mg and 10 mg doses, with the new prices taking effect on December 29.
Reuters said it could not immediately verify the report and noted that Eli Lilly did not respond to a request for comment outside regular business hours.
In the US, Eli Lilly has moved in parallel to ease cash costs for Zepbound.
As reported by CNBC two weeks ago, Eli Lilly said on a Monday that it is lowering the cash prices of single-dose vials of Zepbound on its direct-to-consumer platform LillyDirect.
Cash-paying patients with a valid prescription can now get the starting dose for as low as US$299 per month, down from US$349, the 5 mg dose for US$399 per month, and all higher doses for US$449 per month, down from US$499.
Zepbound carries a list price of about US$1,086 per month and that this, together with uneven insurance coverage for weight-loss drugs in the US, has been a significant barrier to access.
CNBC also said Eli Lilly previously indicated that direct-to-consumer sales now account for more than a third of new prescriptions of Zepbound.
Competitive and policy pressures are helping drive the latest changes.
Eli Lilly’s announcement came weeks after Novo Nordisk cut the cash prices of its obesity drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic for existing cash-paying patients to US$349 per month from US$499 per month, excluding the highest dose of Ozempic.
Novo Nordisk launched a temporary introductory offer that allows new cash-paying patients to access the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for US$199 per month for the first two months.
On the policy side, CNBC reported that Eli Lilly’s latest US pricing move sits alongside agreements US President Donald Trump signed with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to make GLP-1 drugs easier for Americans to obtain and afford.
Those deals will cut the prices the government pays for the drugs, introduce Medicare coverage of obesity drugs for the first time for certain patients, and offer discounted medicines on a new government direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, launching in January.
CNBC said Eli Lilly’s agreement with Trump focuses on future price cuts for a multi-dose pen version of Zepbound once it secures US Food and Drug Administration approval, while the current reductions apply to existing single-dose vials.
The financial stakes remain high.
Eli Lilly’s stock has risen more than 36 percent this year and that the success of Zepbound and diabetes injection Mounjaro helped the company become the first health-care firm to reach a US$1tn market value.
According to CNBC, even though price cuts reduce revenue per prescription, Eli Lilly’s sales and share price have continued to grow as demand expands.
