Eli Lilly and Amazon Pharmacy Partner on Drugs Delivery

One of the world’s oldest pharmaceutical companies Eli Lilly is partnering with Amazon.com's pharmacy unit to deliver drug prescriptions sent to its direct-to-consumer service, LillyDirect.

LillyDirect’s partnership with Amazon Pharmacy will offer home delivery for diabetes, migraine and obesity medications, including the weight loss drug Zepbound. 

LillyDirect is a direct-to-consumer digital pharmacy service for select Lilly medicines that is powered by third-party online pharmacy fulfilment services. It gives patients with prescribed Lilly medicines the added convenience of home delivery. It was launched following strong demand for Zepbound and similar weight-loss medicines.

The market for obesity drugs is expected to be worth an estimated $100bn by 2030, with consumers strongly attracted by new treatments that are said to reduce weight by as much as 20%.

Lilly is known for its clinical depression drug Prozac, its antipsychotic medication Zyprexa and its diabetes drugs, Humalog and Trulicity.

LillyDirect to use Amazon Pharmacy & True Pill

Prescriptions sent to LillyDirect will be delivered by either Amazon Pharmacy or online pharmacy, Truepill, depending on the patient’s insurance coverage and other factors, Reuters reports. TruePill, founded in 2016, provides a business-to-customer pharmaceutical product deliveries service. 

Amazon Pharmacy, a US-only service, was launched in November  2020. It offers free, two-day home delivery of prescriptions to Amazon Prime subscribers. Through Amazon Pharmacy, consumers also have 24/7 access to a clinical pharmacist.

In a statement, a Lilly spokesperson said that LillyDirect has generated “significant interest” since its launch and that the company is “looking forward to continuing to enhance LillyDirect with additional medicines, partners and service providers in the near future”.

Lilly Managed Healthcare Services VP Frank Cunningham revealed the company is also looking at partnering with a retail pharmacy, to offer a pick-up option for LillyDirect customers.

Meanwhile, in a blogpost, Dr Vin Gupta, Amazon Pharmacy Chief Medical Officer, said: “For many patients who start using insulin, or injectable medications for migraine or obesity, this will be the first time they administer an injection. 

“Amazon pharmacists can support medication management by providing guidance on administration techniques, drug interactions, side effects, and cost considerations,"