CSRxP: Eli Lilly’s Zepbound Announcement Leaves Prices High for Most Patients, Serves as Powerful Reminder Big Pharma Alone Sets Prices

Lowering Prices for Some Patients at Some Dosages Will Have Limited Impact, Policymakers Must Hold Big Pharma Accountable to Truly Lower Prices for Most Patients

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) issued a statement Tuesday reacting to an announcement from Eli Lilly on price changes for its GLP-1 weight loss drug Zepbound. The Big Pharma giant reduced prices only at certain dosages and only for patients purchasing the product directly, not those relying on their insurance.

“While any reduction in drug prices is welcome, Eli Lilly’s decision to lower prices for its blockbuster GLP-1 weight loss drug for only some patients at only some doses will have a limited impact, leave prices high for most patients, and should serve principally to remind everyone that brand name drug companies alone set prices on the products they market, and can choose to lower those prices at any time,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “To truly lower prescription drug prices for most patients, policymakers must advance bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable for their abuse of the patent system that blocks competition from more affordable alternatives and enables frequent price hikes and egregious launch prices.”

Read more on how Big Pharma’s high-priced GLP-1 diabetes and weight loss products and expensive cell and gene therapy treatments are expected to lead to increased costs for employers HERE.

Read about how Big Pharma is building patent thickets on GLP-1 diabetes and weight loss drugs to block competition from more affordable alternatives HERE.

Read about how Big Pharma’s egregious prices on GLP-1 diabetes and weight loss drugs are leading to unsustainable costs for the health care system HERE.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.