Eli Lilly announced they now are at full capacity and are ready and able to produce enough Zepbound (tirzepatide) for the masses. Therefore, decapitating the compounding pharmacy business of producing compounded tirzepatide. Eli Lilly wants its GAZILLION dollars. And why shouldn't they?
Here's a little history and economics talk (I'll be brief):
It costs (on average) about $173 million to develop a new drug (a successful drug that is sold on the market).
But, if you include all the "dud" molecules that failed the drug making process, then the actual estimated cost is about $516 million.
If you include the "capital" costs (think marketing, post marketing, sales force, science force, etc.) and the costs of all the failures and the actual drug itself, well, that costs the pharmaceutical company about $879 million (range: $379 million to $1756 million).
Pharmaceutical companies will tell you that bringing a new drug to market can cost up to 4.5 BILLION dollars!? - WHAT IS A POOR, WELL MEANING, ALTRUISTIC PHARMACEUTICAL COMPANY TO DO TO GET SOME OF THAT MONEY BACK?! (1)
I'll tell you. They hire the best of the best marketing team - think of all the slogans that have subliminally been implanted into our brains!
"Ask your doctor about the purple pill", or "Digger the Dermatophyte", or "O O O Ozempic..." The list goes on.
I digress.
Next, pharma hires an elite sales force - they are flown to a large convention center in a desirable location (think Florida, Vegas, San Francisco), hotels, travel and food is 100% paid for. Then a well known celebrity is brought in to rile up said elite sales force so they sell the crap out of this $4.5 billion dollar drug. Think Terry Bradshaw getting the crowd riled up for a blood pressure drug (I know, I was there).
Now, the sales force goes out in their fancy, all expenses paid vehicles and drives around their territory convincing you (the doctor) to prescribe this amazing drug.
Well, I have to say, finally there is a drug that is pretty freaking amazing.
Caveat here - epinephrine, insulin, albuterol, are still by far my most favorite because they LITERALLY SAVE LIVES but that is a whole other rant.
Wegovy and Zepbound are LIFE CHANGING medications.
But who can afford them?
Ahem, who can afford them whose "health" insurance will not pay?
Good Rx data for 4 doses of 10mg/dose Zepbound
Walgreens: $1272 ($318 per dose)
CVS: $1250 ($312.5 per dose)
Shop Rite: $1399 ($349.75 per dose)
WalMart: $1273 ($318.25 per dose)
Commercially insured? Great! YOU PAY $25
Commercially insured? YEP, BUT.... your plan doesn't pay, that's ok- "we have a coupon because we want to save you money because we are the good guys"
Ohhhhh.... you don't meet the criteria for your health insurance to even cover the medication? Too bad. No coupon for you.
Health insurance through the healthcare market place?- Whelp. That's too bad . We don't even have a coupon for you. Go away.
That's where compounding pharmacies were coming in and fulfilling an unmet need. It was providing a much lower cost "generic" version that was more accessible to more people than Shop Rite is.
But that is over now. Poor Eli Lilly needs to make their money. They have around 7 years while the medication is still on patent to ensure only the elite few are able to get their medication.
But here's a thought. (I'm nearly done.)
75% of Americans or overweight or obese.
There are 333.3 million Americans
75% of 333 million is 245million people.
What if the medicine cost $20 per shot - $80 a month (not cheap but I'll throw poor Eli Lilly a bone). Eli Lilly could stand to make $19,600,000,000 per month. (Yes, I know - lots of assumptions here but just hear me out).
What if Eli Lilly smartened up and priced the medication so that the masses could afford it - even if a new medication that is greater and newer comes out in a year or two, they'd gross about $500 billion dollars if they priced it so that it was ACCESSIBLE.
Thanks for reading my rant.
Christine
Sertkaya A, Beleche T, Jessup A, Sommers BD. Costs of Drug Development and Research and Development Intensity in the US, 2000-2018. JAMA Netw Open. 2024;7(6):e2415445. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2024.15445. https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamanetworkopen/fullarticle/2820562#:~:text=Manufacturers%20contend%20that%20the%20length,%2C%20data%2C%20and%20modeling%20assumptions.
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