announced it was now offering prescriptions for Eli Lilly’s obesity drug Zepbound, which is a little amusing because of how much time and money Hims has spent railing against big pharma. But where a number of telehealth companies are providing access to vials of the branded drug through official partnerships, this appears to be something else. Lilly was quick to disavow any formal ties between the companies, adding that Zepbound “can be prescribed by any licensed healthcare professional.”  The more notable news is that Hims has delivered on its promise to offer generic liraglutide, an earlier generation GLP-1 drug that was approved in 2010 to treat diabetes. FDA approved the first generic in December. Hims is marketing the drug on its website for weight loss treatments, noting in a disclaimer that it “may be prescribed off-label for weight loss at a healthcare provider’s discretion.” With the boom in popularity of GLP-1 drugs, telehealth companies have raced to cash in. While Lilly’s tirzepatide, the scientific name for Zepbound, and Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide (aka Ozempic/Wegovy) were in short supply, companies like Hims could legally market copies of the drugs produced by compounding pharmacies. With the drugs off the FDA’s shortage list, they’ll have to stop. As Hims seeks to keep offering care, generics and selling the name-brand drugs are alternatives. The company continues to prescribe compounded versions of semaglutide at different doses than the FDA-approved drug. Relatedly: Lilly this week sued two compounding pharmacies for falsely marketing “personalized” doses of tirzepatide.

pharma

Pharmaceuticals are spared from tariffs, for now

President Trump yesterday announced a baseline tariff of 10% on all imported products and higher rates on certain countries that his administration sees as engaging in unfair trade. The White House wrote in a fact sheet, though, that pharmaceuticals are exempt from these tariffs.

The tariffs announcement initially caused confusion and anxiety among biotech investors as they sought to understand the impact on pharmaceuticals. The XBI sank in post-market trading yesterday before then rising again.

Does this mean that the biopharma industry won’t be affected, though? Not necessarily. 

It’s not yet clear if these new tariffs could affect areas of drug manufacturing beyond the final pharmaceutical product, such as API components, Jefferies analysts wrote. They pointed to a recent BIO survey that found that nearly 90% of U.S. biotechs rely on imported components for at least half of their FDA-approved products.

And as I mentioned in yesterday’s newsletter, tariffs on pharmaceuticals may still come soon. Reuters recently reported that drugmakers expect tariffs to be inevitable, but they’re lobbying the president to phase in the tariffs.

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