Medicine maker Eli Lilly on Thursday announced a new website that will allow patients to get a prescription for weight-loss medications through a telehealth provider — a move, the company says, that will improve access to the extremely popular and effective medications, including the recently approved drug Zepbound.
The new website, called LillyDirect, joins a growing list of platforms such as Weight Watchers and Ro that offer weight loss medications via telehealth, but is the first of its kind from a pharmaceutical company.
It comes less than two months after the Food and Drug Administration approved Lilly's weight-loss drug Zepbound. The drug is the latest entrant into the powerful — and expensive — class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists, which also includes Lilly's Mounjaro and Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy.
“We're used to constantly purchasing consumer goods directly from manufacturers on online websites,” said David Ricks, CEO of Lilly. “It really hasn't been an option before” for prescription drugs.
Ricks said the new platform will make it easier for patients to access the medications, eliminating the need to go to the doctor to get a prescription and then to a pharmacy to fill it. Patients prescribed Zepbound are eligible for Lilly's home prescription delivery service.
However, there will be no price discounts for the drugs through the website, putting them, at a list price of more than $1,000 for a month's supply and often not covered by insurance, out of reach for most Americans. Patients will still have to meet the criteria for the weight loss medications, which are intended for long-term use, not rapid weight loss.
However, some experts raised concerns about the platform and raised questions about Lilly's financial motives.
“What fuels my skepticism is that the stakes are so high,” said Arthur Caplan, chief of medical ethics at NYU Langone Medical Center in New York City.
Other companies also offer weight loss prescriptions via telemedicine, but not a pharmaceutical company with its own weight-loss drug, Caplan said.
“There is so much money involved in these injectables,” he said. “That creates at least the appearance of a conflict of interest.”
Lilly itself does not provide telehealth services. Instead, LillyDirect will connect patients with telehealth provider Form Health, whose obesity medicine doctors will work with patients to determine if a prescription is appropriate.
Neither Form Health nor its physicians will receive financial compensation for prescribing Lilly's drug, Ricks said.
Evan Richardson, the CEO of Form Health, said patients prescribed a weight-loss drug will meet with a doctor via video on an ongoing basis, usually once a month.
The doctors will work independently and can prescribe any FDA-approved weight loss drug; they do not need to prescribe Lilly's Zepbound.
But only those prescribed Zepbound are eligible for Lilly's prescription home delivery service, Ricks said.
Telehealth for weight loss medications
Because dozens of telehealth services already offer prescriptions, LillyDirect faces a lot of competition. It's not clear what percentage of patients get their weight-loss medications or medications via telehealth, but the platforms could be vital for people who live too far away from a doctor.
“These are populations that are underserved minorities living in rural areas, away from urban areas,” said Dr. Saurabh Chandra, chief telehealth officer for the University of Mississippi Medical Center's Center for Telehealth, who has no ties to either. Lilly of Form Health. “About 18% to 20% of the population lives in rural areas.”
In addition, there is a shortage of general practitioners, he says. “You combine the two, now you have a lack of access to health care for these populations.”
Still, not all experts are convinced that a telehealth provider backed by a major pharmaceutical company is the best approach.
“It feels like the lines are blurring,” says Dr. Shauna Levy, an obesity medicine specialist and medical director of the Tulane Bariatric Center in New Orleans. Levy has no affiliation with Lilly or Form Health.
Lilly said the online platform is only intended for people who currently meet the criteria for a weight-loss drug in the US: people with a BMI of at least 30 or a BMI of at least 27 with at least one weight-related medical condition.
Form Health physicians have complete discretion over who they prescribe medications to, and whether a weight loss medication is appropriate for a patient. The medications can cause side effects, including nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
Richardson, the CEO of Form Health, said the telehealth company has multiple layers of protection to ensure doctors only serve patients who meet the criteria for weight-loss medications. That includes verifying the patient's medical information and making sure the driver's license is consistent with their height and appearance. The company also sends a scale to the patient's home.
Ensuring the right patients get the medications is “an important aspect of what we do,” Richardson said. “It is important not only for the health of the patient, but also for the system.” Preventing people from fraudulently obtaining weight-loss medications means more supply for the people who need it, he said.
Another question is how a telehealth platform specifically for weight loss medications will be used in addition to primary care.
Chandra said he's concerned about a potential for “fragmentation of care,” where people use the platform to get their weight-loss medications but still see their other personal provider for other medications.
That poses a risk, he said, of potential drug interactions, if health care providers are not aware of the different medications a patient is taking.
“Many of the patients themselves do not know what medications they are taking,” Chandra said. “Often they don't know what the side effects are or what the adverse effects might be.”
Richardson said Form Health physicians will review each patient's medical records, including any existing medications the patient is taking.
It remains to be seen whether Lilly's supply of Zepbound will be able to keep up with what is expected to be extremely high demand. Semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, has been in short supply since March 2022 due to the drugs' rising popularity.
Ricks said Zepbound supply isn't an issue for Lilly, whether people buy it at a local pharmacy or LillyDirect.
“That doesn't change the amount of supply available, but it could make it easier for people to connect to a medicine they want and need,” Lilly's CEO said.
Lilly also offers a similar telehealth prescription and delivery service for some of its migraine and diabetes medications.