Eli Lilly said Thursday that it would increase the prices of medicines in Europe and other developed markets “in order to make them lower” in the U.S., an apparent response to the Trump administration’s calls to do so. It singled out the list price of its popular weight-loss drug in the U.K. as part of that effort.
The announcement is among the first moves by a major drugmaker to raise prices abroad in order to lower them in the U.S., in line with President Trump’s agenda. But it’s not clear if these actions would actually increase the amount of revenue that Lilly earns abroad, since governments and private providers that cover drugs often negotiate discounts off the list prices. Lilly did not immediately announce any new price reductions in the U.S.
Lilly said it will increase the list price of Mounjaro, which it sells for both diabetes and obesity in the U.K., from £122 to £330 at the highest dose, or roughly from $165 to $447. (In the U.S., the list price for a month’s supply of Lilly’s weight loss drug, which it sells as Zepbound in the U.S., is about $1,000.)
The U.K. government negotiates discounts to arrive at what it deems to be a cost-effective price that it will actually pay. In a statement, the National Health Service said that the list price increase “will not affect NHS commissioning of tirzepatide in England for eligible people living with obesity, based on clinical priority, or as a treatment for type 2 diabetes.”
It appears likely that though Lilly has raised the list price of Mounjaro in the U.K., it’s also offering more discounts, so that the government is continuing to pay the same price, said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. That would mean the revenue that Lilly earns from the U.K. government stays the same.
“This is a way to basically symbolically suggest you’re doing something about prices, but it’s doing absolutely nothing to increase how much money they get from overseas or definitely not lowering prices in the U.S.,” Dusetzina said.
Posted by John3262005
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The US subsidizes European defense at the expense of American healthcare, I suppose it’s only fair that they return the favor.
>It appears likely **that though Lilly has raised the list price of Mounjaro in the U.K., it’s also offering more discounts, so that the government is continuing to pay the same price**, said Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. That would mean the revenue that Lilly earns from the U.K. government stays the same.
lmfao