Americans are still eagerly seeking prescriptions for Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s weight-loss and diabetes drugs but cannot always fill them because of supply issues and insurance hurdles, according to their doctors,” Patrick Wingrove and Bhanvi Satija write over at Reuters. “Those frustrations, along with the medicines’ high cost, are pushing patients to cheaper compounded versions sold online, doctors, pharmacy officials and Wall Street analysts said. Lilly last week reported a rare $1.5 billion sales miss for its injectable obesity drug Zepbound and diabetes medicine Mounjaro combined, raising concerns among investors that demand might be cooling for the products. Those market dynamics will again be in focus when Novo reports results for its diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss medicine Wegovy this Wednesday. Lilly attributed the shortfall to a logistical issue as it worked to overcome a shortage of its two drugs, which share the same active ingredient. Distributors were still working through new supplies purchased in the prior quarter rather than ordering more, Lilly said. … In interviews with Reuters, eight U.S. obesity specialists at universities and large health systems described a different experience. All of them said they are still seeing intense demand for weight-loss medicines. Yet many of their patients cannot get health insurance coverage for the Lilly and Novo drugs, whose list prices top $1,000 per month. Four of the doctors told Reuters that patients are also still finding it hard to get various doses at times and are shopping around pharmacies to find supply.” Patrick Wingrove and Bhanvi Satija, “Americans hungry for weight-loss drugs grapple with supply and insurance hurdles,” Reuters.
