Listen, I'm trying to reduce my carbon footprint and as a living organism I'm mostly carbon. So the smaller I get the better. And there's no better way to become a shadow of my former self than to juice up with some full Glutides (let the medicore among us settle for Semi Glutides).
More importantly the stuff's on sale! I can't resist a sale. I wonder if I'm going to have nausea. Who cares I'm already nauseous most of the time reading the Report.
Telehealth's bet on cheap off-brand weight loss drugs is putting pressure on Big Pharma to lower prices
The surge of telehealth companies offering cheap alternatives to blockbuster weight loss drugs prompts Big Pharma price cuts
By Bruce Gil, Quartz
PublishedYesterday
Another telehealth company has jumped on the cheap, off-brand weight loss drugs train.
Lemonaid Health, a 23 and Me subsidiary, announced Wednesday that it will begin offering an off-brand version of semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy for just $299 a month.
It joins other online health platforms that hawk these cheaper medications, including the male-focused Ro, the millennial-skewed Hims & Hers, Costco’s healthcare partner Sesame, and Henry Meds — some of which also offer off-brand versions of Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound.
All these digital healthcare providers offer in-demand weight loss treatments for hundreds of dollars less than the official drugs’ over $1,000 list prices.
And big pharma is starting to take notice with Eli Lilly LLY, this week, slashing the price of some doses of Zepbound by about half their original price.
Telehealth is betting on weight loss drugs
The skyrocketing popularity of weight loss drugs has been a boon for the telehealth industry, which has been able to leverage existing drug laws to sell cheap and unofficial weight loss drugs online. And the strategy seems to be paying off, for now.
Hims & Hers, which first introduced off-brand Wegovy to its platform in May, expects 2024 to be its first profitable year, in part due to the weight loss drug.
The company’s stock has risen 65% since the beginning of the year and in August it raised its full-year sales guidance between $1.37 billion and $1.40 billion. Its previous projection was capped at $1.2 billion.
And despite the clock ticking on how long these companies can legally sell off-brand weight loss drugs, the industry seems to be doubling down.
In July, Hims & Hers announced that it has added Kåre Schultz, a longtime Novo Nordisk executive, to its board of directors. Schultz told Bloomberg at the time that the company has a “long future” in selling compounded semaglutide.
Compounding is the process of customizing an approved drug by a state-licensed pharmacist or physician to meet the specific needs of an individual patient.
Typically, the Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act prohibits compounding drugs that are just copies of commercially available medications. However, drugs that are in shortage are not considered by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to be commercially available. Wegovy and Zepbound are currently on the FDA’s drug shortage database.
When asked if pharmacies will still be able to make compounded semaglutide after the shortages end, Schulz said he wasn’t worried because there would still be cases where patients need individualized prescriptions.
Big pharma responds with lower prices
Big pharma didn’t wait long to make a move that could shake up the off-brand weight loss drug market for telehealth companies.
This week, Eli Lilly launched a new single-dose vial option for the lowest doses of Zepbound, giving people an alternative to the usual auto-injector pen the drug comes in. The move is meant to help keep up with rising demand for the treatment. The lowered prices also make the drug more competitive against the cheaper alternatives offered by online pharmacies and telehealth platforms.
A four-week supply of the 2.5 mg Zepbound single-dose vials will cost $399, while a four-week supply of the 5 mg dose will cost $549. That’s about half the cost of Zepbound’s regular list price of $1,060 and closer to the price of compounded versions.
analyst Daniel Grosslight called the move “a shot across the bow,” in a note this week.
“We anticipate the offering will take share away from the compounders given patients will likely opt for the branded over compounded tirzepatide [the active ingredient in Zepbound] as (1) pricing is a bit more flexible and (2) certainty of supply,” Grosslight wrote.
Weight loss drug companies are also facing government pressure to lower prices
Aside from growing competition from telehealth companies, weight loss drug makers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly are also facing pressure from lawmakers to lower prices.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has agreed to voluntarily testify in September before the Senate’s health committee to address the pharma giant’s high prices for its diabetes and weight loss drugs in the U.S.
In April, the Senate’s Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) committee launched an investigation into the high prices the company charges for its blockbuster drugs.
The committee chairman’s Sen. Bernie Sanders said that the committee’s investigation found that the net cost of Ozempic in the U.S. is about $600 a month, well above the drug’s list price in other countries. Ozempic in Germany costs just $59 for a month’s supply. The net price of Wegovy in the U.S. is $809, while it goes for $92 in the United Kingdom.
Some Wall Street analyst also expect Ozempic to be selected for Medicare price negotiation next year.
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