Patients, pharmacists and physicians are reporting a strained supply of Zepbound, Eli Lilly's new weight loss drug, as the drugmaker and the FDA say the medication is available, according to Bloomberg.
The FDA said it is seeing "adequate supply" and is not reporting a shortage, and neither is the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. However, pharmacy workers across six states told the news outlet that Zepbound doses were on back order. Patients are calling multiple pharmacies to fill prescriptions, but they're hearing about a supply hiccup until early April.
"Patients are mad at my staff, my staff are upset," Angela Fitch, MD, president of the Obesity Medicine Association, told Bloomberg.
In January, Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks said the company was expecting supply issues to happen in 2024. The drugmaker is working to bolster its manufacturing capabilities, including additions to a North Carolina plant and two new facilities.
Other GLP-1 drugs, including Ozempic and Wegovy, have also been in unsteady supply. Mounjaro, Eli Lilly's Type 2 diabetes drug with the same generic as Zepbound, has been in shortage since December 2022. In early March, for the first time, new prescriptions for Zepbound surpassed those for Wegovy, Novo Nordisk's popular weight management therapy.