Eli Lilly taps Amazon Pharmacy to help deliver Zepbound and other drugs | Wilnesh News

Eli Lilly and Company said on wednesday Amazon The pharmacy can help transmit The drugmaker’s new direct-to-consumer program will deliver certain prescription drugs, including the popular weight-loss drug Zepbound, to patients’ homes.

Amazon Pharmacy Delivery Available Starting Wednesday certain medications Drugs made by Eli Lilly and Company to treat obesity, diabetes or migraines for patients who order them from the drugmaker direct selling website, according to an email from Eli Lilly. This is the second online pharmacy to partner with Eli Lilly and Company’s platform to offer two-day delivery to certain patients.

The website LillyDirect connects people with independent telemedicine companies that can prescribe certain medications if they qualify. If the prescribed treatment is from Eli Lilly and Company, the site also offers a home delivery option, utilizing a third-party online pharmacy to fill the prescription and send it directly to the patient.

LillyDirect launched in January to make Zepbound and other medications more accessible to patients. It eliminates the need to visit a doctor for a prescription and, in some cases, a pharmacy to fill it.

The website is one of several ways the company is upending America’s complex drug distribution, pricing and prescription systems, in part as they face increased political pressure to cut costs for consumers.

The new partnership with Amazon comes as Zepbound and other weight-loss drugs are soaring in popularity for their ability to help patients lose significant weight over time. But Eli Lilly has struggled to keep up with demand, facing intermittent shortages of many of its drugs over the last year.

Lilly has not disclosed how many patients have used LillyDirect so far. But the company said in an email on Tuesday that it had seen “significant interest in the platform.” Eli Lilly plans to expand its offering of medicines to its partner companies in the future, the company said.

Amazon Pharmacy offers free two-day shipping to patients with an Amazon Prime membership, which also applies if they use LillyDirect.

“I think it’s a huge advantage,” Frank Cunningham, Eli Lilly’s senior vice president of global value and access, said in an interview about Amazon’s two-day shipping option. “Our goal is to provide a great customer experience and get the product into their hands as quickly as possible.”

Cunningham didn’t say how many days it typically takes for the site’s other pharmacy partner, digital health startup Truepill, to get medications to patients. But he told CNBC that Eli Lilly expects similar processing and shipping times for Amazon Pharmacy and Truepill.

John Love, vice president of Amazon Pharmacy, told CNBC that the company is looking into ways to deliver medications faster, within two days.

“Actually, we don’t think the standard is high enough. We’re just getting started,” he said in an interview. “But I think that makes us an attractive partner and collaborator for a variety of people like Eli Lilly, payers, providers who are looking for different types of pharmacies.”

Patients don’t need to use LillyDirect’s telehealth service to get the home delivery option, according to the website.

Once a patient receives a prescription for an Eli Lilly drug, they can ask their healthcare professional to select LillyDirect in their provider’s electronic health record system as the pharmacy from which the drug will be dispensed. The prescription will then be sent to LillyDirect, which will deliver the medication to the patient’s doorstep via Amazon Pharmacy or Truepill.

Eli Lilly said in an email that most prescription drug deliveries will be shared between the two partners. But the company noted that in some cases, one online pharmacy is better suited to deliver than another based on a patient’s “personal details,” including their insurance network.

Chief Medical Officer Dr. Vin Gupta told CNBC that in addition to home delivery, Amazon Pharmacy will provide 24/7 access to a clinical pharmacist for patients who have questions about the medications they receive.

These pharmacists are especially important for new patients using weight loss injectables like Zepbound. These medications are known to have some side effects, including nausea and vomiting.

“We can guide them through the entire journey and make them feel like they have support, because providers may not have the time or may not be able to answer all of these questions,” Gupta said. “Excellence is not yet widely available in the pharmacy ecosystem that we offer. clinical and clinical support.”

This isn’t the first time Amazon has partnered with Eli Lilly.In August, Amazon partnered with Eli Lilly and other companies to add more than 15 coupons Go to online pharmacies to buy insulin and diabetes medications.

Amazon acquired online pharmacy PillPack in 2018 and later launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020, shaking up the retail pharmacy space. It’s part of Amazon’s broader push into health care over the years. The company also acquired primary care provider One Medical in 2022 for about $3.9 billion.

In February, Amazon confirmed to CNBC that it had cut hundreds of jobs in its pharmacy and One Medical divisions as CEO Andy Jassy aggressively cuts costs at the company.

But Amazon Health chief Neil Lindsay wrote in a memo to employees last month that Amazon is seeing “tremendous growth” in Amazon Pharmacy, One Medical and its virtual health clinics. Lindsay did not provide specific metrics.

Last year, Amazon Pharmacy expanded its presence in the broader healthcare industry.

Major health insurance company Blue Shield of California announces it will no longer use the healthcare giant CVS as its pharmacy benefits manager and will work with several other businesses, including Amazon Pharmacy.

—CNBC’s Annie Palmer contributed to this report.