Lilly taps Hims to widen access to its weight-loss meds

Deal details

Eli Lilly is plugging into Hims's telehealth network to reach more consumers seeking weight-loss treatments, giving Hims users a direct path to Lilly's drugs at reduced prices inside the platform. Before this, patients had to leave Hims to get Lilly's products, a step that Ilya Yuffa said led many to drop off.

"Our goal is to expand access as much as possible in the different channels, knowing where consumers are and meeting them where they are," said Yuffa, who leads Lilly USA and Global Customer Capabilities. He estimates that 30% to 40% of patients obtain obesity therapies through telehealth. Lilly already works with other virtual care firms, including Ro and Weight Watchers.

Hims Chief Executive Andrew Dudum framed the shift as consumer driven. "This is where customers are wanting care and expecting care, and they're demanding a really high-quality, super consumer-friendly experience," he said. The company's stock gained 3.8% at 9:38 a.m. Friday in New York, while Lilly's shares were flat.

Why the partnership happened

The tie-up follows a period of tension between the companies over lower cost compounded versions of weight-loss drugs. Lilly has been outspoken against sellers of unapproved copies of its medicines, saying it will not team up with those firms and has pursued lawsuits. Hims has not offered compounded versions of Lilly's products and has pledged not to do so, a point Yuffa said mattered in striking this deal.

It also mirrors a broader turn in the market. Drugmakers, including Novo Nordisk, are now working with the telehealth platforms they once tried to curb. Earlier this year Hims reached a similar arrangement with Novo, ending months of friction. Analyst Michael Cherny at Leerink Partners wrote that Friday's announcement "feels both surprising and inevitable," noting Hims's push to expand access to branded GLP-1s after it stopped personalized mass compounding. He said it is uncertain whether this boosts Hims's total addressable market or simply adds a lower margin growth channel, but called it "a clear positive for offering mass access to the weight-management market."

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Pricing, demand and what is next

Lilly is courting cash pay customers through Hims by making its discounts easier to use. Foundayo's lowest tier runs $149 per month, while Zepbound begins at $299 monthly. The company is pushing to broaden Foundayo's reach after the pill fell short of expectations for the quarter that wrapped up in October. Marketing has been stepped up, including a new ad featuring Martha Stewart.

For Hims, moving further toward FDA approved therapies and away from compounded GLP-1s could cool tensions with Lilly. The companies also see room to expand their work together as Lilly grows its pipeline, especially with retatrutide. "We'll be spending the next few years working with all of the expansions coming out, with drugs like reta in the coming year and all the innovation in that pipeline," Dudum said.

What it means for your portfolio

This is another sign that distribution, not just science, will shape who captures demand in obesity care. Platforms like Hims concentrate millions of cash pay users outside traditional insurance, and Lilly is meeting them where they are. Watch how uptake changes now that Hims patients can stay inside the platform and tap Lilly's discounts, and track whether Foundayo and Zepbound volumes shift as this rolls out.

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