LLY News & Events

Eli Lilly issued the following statement: "Today, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued new implementation details for the Medicare and Medicaid CMMI BALANCE Model, marking a significant milestone in delivering on the commitment Lilly made with the U.S. government to expand access to our obesity medicines and lower costs for patients. Beginning January 1, 2027, Lilly's Zepbound, Mounjaro and orforglipron, if approved, will be available through Medicare Part D participating plans under this program, with most beneficiaries having out-of-pocket costs capped at $50 per month after the deductible is met. Additionally, before patients reach their deductible, their cost sharing will be limited to $245 per month plus dispensing fee. State Medicaid programs can apply to participate beginning May 1, 2026, with a rolling start. While the majority of Medicare plan options will honor the $50 out-of-pocket cap, cost sharing will vary for beneficiaries in a small number of basic Medicare Part D plans. We will be actively educating patients and their physicians about plan options and smoothing programs that can help patients access GLP-1 medications at the lowest possible out-of-pocket costs. Lilly will continue working with CMS, health plans, providers, and pharmacists to extend that access and affordability to every Medicare patient who needs these medicines."

Amazon Pharmacy (AMZN) announced expanded access to the new Zepbound KwikPen through Amazon Pharmacy. Eli Lilly's (LLY) multi-dose injectable treatment for weight management is designed to deliver a full month of medication in a single device. With a valid prescription, customers can order Zepbound KwikPen through Amazon Pharmacy, see exactly how much the medication costs, starting at $299 per month for the 2.5 mg starter dose, through Amazon Pharmacy's transparent pricing before checkout, and have their medication delivered directly to their door.

Catch up on the weekend's top five stories with this list compiled by The Fly: 1) KKR (KKR) is working on a sale of CoolIT Systems, hoping to fetch a price tag in excess of $3B, Oliver Barnes and Antoine Gara of The Financial Times reports, citing people familiar with the matter. This is a massive increase from the unit's $270M valuation when KKR bought a majority stake in 2023. 2) Dr. Vinay Prasad, who issued several controversial decisions, including having refused to accept Moderna's (MRNA) application for a new mRNA flu vaccine and refused an application for a Huntington's drug's review from UniQure (QURE), is leaving the agency at the end of April, reported The New York Times' Christina Jewett on Friday evening, citing a Health and Human Services spokesman. Publicly traded large-cap drugmakers include AstraZeneca (AZN), Bristol Myers (BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), GSK (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), Novartis (NVS), Pfizer (PFE), Roche (RHHBY) and Sanofi (SNY). Biotech stocks that could be impacted by the news include Sarepta (SRPT), Xencor (XNCR), PTC Therapeutics (PTCT), Biohaven (BHVN), Edgewise Therapeutics (EWTX), Design Therapeutics (DSGN), Ultragenyx (RARE), Avidity Biosciences (RNA), Dyne Therapeutics (DYN), Wave Life Sciences (WVE), MeiraGTx (MGTX), uniQure (QURE), Regenxbio (RGNX), Moderna (MRNA), Novavax (NVAX) and Lexeo Therapeutics (LXEO). 3) Plug Power (PLUG) plans to offer hydrogen electricity, as much as 250 megawatts, in an auction President Donald Trump is eager to make happen later this year, Will Wade and Naureen Malik of Bloomberg reports, citing chairman Andy Marsh. PJM Interconnection, which is facing power shortages due to surging consumption by data centers to power AI, has been urged by the Trump administration to hold an emergency auction to bolster supplies. 4) Prudential (PRU) disclosed yesterday that on March 6, the Prudential Gibraltar Financial Life Insurance Co., a subsidiary of Prudential Financial, issued a press release in Japan reporting instances of the unauthorized removal of information by certain employees of PGFL seconded to financial institutions in Japan. The investigation confirmed that 11 employees in total removed 379 instances of information at seven contracted agencies. The removed information pertained to operational matters such as sales performance at the assigned agencies. "After confirming the content of all cases with the agencies, no issues were identified that would raise concerns under the Unfair Competition Prevention Act, nor was there any inappropriate removal of contract information," Prudential Gibraltar Financial said. 5) Activist investor Starboard Value has built a stake in Lamb Weston (LW) and has been pushing to company to speed up improvements and cost cutting to boost stock performance, Lauren Thomas of The Wall Street Journal reports, citing people familiar with the matter. Starboard is now one of the largest shareholders in the company, the sources added.

Dr. Vinay Prasad, who issued several controversial decisions, including having refused to accept Moderna's (MRNA) application for a new mRNA flu vaccine and refused an application for a Huntington's drug's review from UniQure (QURE), is leaving the agency at the end of April, reported The New York Times' Christina Jewett on Friday evening, citing a Health and Human Services spokesman. Publicly traded large-cap drugmakers include AstraZeneca (AZN), Bristol Myers (BMY), Eli Lilly (LLY), GSK (GSK), Johnson & Johnson (JNJ), Merck (MRK), Novartis (NVS), Pfizer (PFE), Roche (RHHBY) and Sanofi (SNY). Biotech stocks that could be impacted by the news include Sarepta (SRPT), Xencor (XNCR), PTC Therapeutics (PTCT), Biohaven (BHVN), Edgewise Therapeutics (EWTX), Design Therapeutics (DSGN), Ultragenyx (RARE), Avidity Biosciences (RNA), Dyne Therapeutics (DYN), Wave Life Sciences (WVE), MeiraGTx (MGTX), uniQure (QURE), Regenxbio (RGNX), Moderna (MRNA), Novavax (NVAX) and Lexeo Therapeutics (LXEO).