Lilly exec says supply, reimbursement are factors for new Mounjaro launches

The top international executive at Eli Lilly on Tuesday said the pharmaceutical company will consider regulatory approvals, reimbursement and sufficient supplies before deciding whether to launch its weight-loss drug Mounjaro in new markets. "It's not just about which market we want to go into, it's also about being able to negotiate reimbursement," Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly International, told Reuters at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos.

The top international executive at Eli Lilly on Tuesday said the pharmaceutical company will consider regulatory approvals, reimbursement and sufficient supplies before deciding whether to launch its weight-loss drug Mounjaro in new markets.

"It's not just about which market we want to go into, it's also about being able to negotiate reimbursement," Ilya Yuffa, president of Lilly International, told Reuters at the World Economic Forum (WEF) annual meeting in Davos. Yuffa said his goal was to bring all of Lilly's therapies to as many markets as possible and expand access.

The executive disclosed that Lilly may evaluate a direct-to-patient model for individual markets in Europe based on each country's regulations. The drugmaker this month

launched a website called Lilly Direct that allows people in the U.S. to order Mounjaro, marketed as Zepbound in the country, directly from the company. (Join GMF, a chat room hosted on LSEG Messenger, for live interviews: https://lseg.group/3TN7SHH) (Divya Chowdhury in Davos and Savio Shetty in Mumbai; Writing by Patrick Wingrove; Editing by Mark Porter and Sharon Singleton)