Eli Lilly announces price cut for Zepbound

(CBS, KYMA/KECY) - Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced a big price cut for its drug Zepbound.

Eli Lilly is reducing the price of the highest doses of its popular drug Zepbound for folks who aren't using insurance.

Weight loss drugs are taken in stages and under previous prices, the different doses would get increasingly expensive.

Now, all doses will be available at 499 dollars per month or less for eligible adults with obesity and a valid prescription.

These prices are for people who use the company's "Zepbound Self Pay Journey Program" to fill their prescriptions for the first fill of those doses and refills made within 45 days of the previous delivery.

It's worth noting the discount only applies to vials of Zepbound, not the single-dose pens.

There's been increased political pressure to bring down the costs of these obesity medications, which will still be expensive for a lot of people, even with this discount.

Part of it is competition as Eli Lilly's competitor Novo Nordisk recently dropped the price for its weight loss drug "WeGovy" to a similar $499 a month pricing for people without insurance.