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Eli Lilly and Pfizer have launched direct-to-consumer platforms to allow patients to avoid in-person doctors and brick-and-mortar pharmacies, signaling a potential new trend among big pharma companies.
Earlier this year, Lilly introduced a new direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect.Simplify the patient experience” said CEO David Ricks. His online platform offers disease management such as diabetes, migraines, and obesity, as well as a telemedicine program that connects users with medical professionals who can prescribe medications delivered to their homes.
In March, Lily also announced: Partner with Amazon As a third-party pharmacy provider, Pharmacy will sell the same products to LillyDirect patients using Amazon’s free two-day delivery, a program that bypasses traditional pharmacies and comes with the added benefit of Amazon pharmacists on call 24 hours a day.
Both changes provide new opportunities for consumers to obtain Lilly’s hit weight-loss drug Zepbound. Zepbound currently competes with Novo Nordisk’s better-selling drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.The company’s diabetes drug Maunjaro is not available on Lilly Direct, but the pharmaceutical giant Plans to expand In the future, the medicines available on the platform will be displayed.
Following in Lilly’s footsteps, Pfizer told the Financial Times in May: Planning to launch your own DTC website By the end of the year. Like Lilly, the platform will offer medications for migraine patients and the COVID-19 treatment paxlobide to be prescribed through telemedicine specialists.
Another DTC wave
Big drug companies have dabbled in DTC models in the past, said Bill Ross, managing partner at health care consulting firm Bluefin Group, but he sees it more often when companies sell generic drugs. It is said that it is time to deal with the loss of patents as a means to counter this.
When Pfizer lost exclusive rights to the cholesterol blockbuster drug Lipitor in 2011, the company Launched DTC platform and selling the drug at a generic price.Roth said the companies could be looking further down the road for future revenue declines.
“When a brand (loses exclusivity) and is exposed to generic competition, it usually puts them at some sort of disadvantage from PBMs and pharmacies,” Ross said. “What’s interesting about what Lilly has done and what Pfizer is proposing is that these are at the forefront of the product lifecycle.”
But despite providing direct access to prescriptions, drug companies face a dilemma. That means taking patients away from their usual drug acquisition routes, especially if they are taking multiple medications.
“Will I, as a patient, have to go to different pharmaceutical company websites to buy my medication?” Ross asked. “We still live in a world where patients, whether they’re getting service from a brick-and-mortar store or through home delivery, essentially want to order from one pharmacy and not have to buy products from multiple different pharmacies.”
suitable target
In addition to large pharmaceutical companies, the DTC market is filled with lifestyle brands that offer generic medicines for personal care, sexual and reproductive health, and more. These therapeutic areas may be better suited to the DTC model, Ross said, and DTC companies such as Hims & Hers Health and Lemonade Health are creating unique “destinations” for consumers to source prescription drugs. ”.
Ross isn’t sure how well Lilly and Pfizer will be able to compete in the DTC market over the long term.
“It’s unclear whether they’re trying to learn from[the platform]or launch new channels so they can really sell,” he said.
However, Lilly’s weight loss drug is where the DTC model stands out, as the drug is extremely popular and in demand. Already in short supply. Hims & Hers Health, which offers prescription drugs for hair loss, anxiety and depression, as well as birth control pills and generic Viagra, this week provide weight loss drugs In the form of complex GLP-1. The drug uses the same active ingredient as Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wigovy (semaglutide) and starts at $199 per month, according to the company.
The move highlights an opportunity for DTC companies in the fast-growing weight loss space and exposes a gap in Lilly’s DTC offerings. If a patient is trying to obtain her GLP-1 drug, she may not go to LillyDirect if a cheaper alternative is available, especially if the branded drug is in short supply. .
LillyDirect and pfizer for allIt remains unclear who specifically the drug company is targeting as customers, as Lilly’s weight loss drug may not be covered by all insurance companies at this time and has a list price of about $100. . $1,000 per month.
“I think the question the pharmaceutical industry is asking right now is, is it better to pursue the cash market or is it still better to use insurance?” Ross said.
Only two major pharmaceutical companies have launched new DTC products this year, but Ross predicted more could follow.
“I don’t see them as a sustainable, healthy alternative to other retail or delivery options, but I don’t think that’s going to stop people from trying,” Ross said. Ta. “The way our industry works is that up until now he’s seen one (platform), now he’s heard about two. By the time he hears the third, no one in the industry says, “Let’s try that model.”
