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Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly launched a website this week to connect patients with obesity drugs like Zepbound and Mounjaro.
LillyDirect aims to “provide simple, direct options for independent online and in-person care services” and connect patients with doctors remotely through telehealth services, according to its website.
“The reason for this is that when we talk to patients who are seeking these obesity treatments, whether from us or from our competitors, many people have a difficult time,” said David Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, according to The New York Times .
The platform, launched on Thursday, will allow patients to order medications directly from the company.
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Eli Lilly has launched a telemedicine-related website called EliDirect. (George Frey/Bloomberg via Getty Images / Getty Images)
WW International, formerly known as Weight Watchers, and Ro have also launched similar telehealth websites that can connect people with weight loss medications.
Doctors who find patients on LillyDirect are not required to prescribe medications and are not affiliated with the company. You also don't get any commission for prescriptions, says Eli Lilly.
“In our view, the DTC (direct-to-consumer) model is ideal for obesity medications, driving adoption and lowering barriers to enrolling new patients at Zepbound,” he added.
However, some experts have concerns about the medications being prescribed without an in-person visit.
| ticker | Security | Last | Change | Change % |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| LLY | ELI LILLY & CO. | 618.55 | +4.05 | +0.66% |
“The American College of Physicians (ACP) is concerned about the development of websites that allow patients to order prescription medications directly from drug manufacturers,” the organization said in a statement this week. “While information about in-person care is available, this direct-to-consumer approach is primarily focused on the use of telehealth services to prescribe a drug manufacturer's products. For telemedicine services to be performed responsibly, there should be an established and valid patient-physician relationship or care should be provided in consultation with a physician who has an established relationship with the patient.
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The statement added that patients “may be confused and misinformed about medications. While efforts to address barriers to care are important, they should not devalue the proven benefits of the patient-physician relationship.”
Timothy Mackey, a professor at UC San Diego, called it “direct-to-consumer advertising,” while Dr. Andrew Kraftson of Michigan Medicine told the New York Times that he thinks it's “disingenuous to think that people just totally get the idea of neutral, balanced care.”
“This is not medicine,” said Dr. Adriane Fugh-Berman of Georgetown University Medical Center told the Times. “Medicine should not be a consumer good, and treatments should not be a commodity.”
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Eli Lilly said its anti-obesity drugs should not be used for “cosmetic weight loss,” a trend that has worried medical professionals when it comes to anti-obesity drugs like Ozempic.
Portal contributed to this report.