Eli Lilly and Company has added Amazon Pharmacy as a third-party dispensing provider for LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions, meaning the company will provide home delivery services for certain medications through LillyDirect, the companies announced Wednesday.
LillyDirect, which launched in January, is a digital healthcare solution supporting patients living with obesity, migraine and diabetes. It helps people find providers and offers access to LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions, a digital pharmacy for some Lilly medicines. Medications available through LillyDirect include Basaglar, a basal insulin; Emgality, a medication for preventing migraine; and Zepbound, a medication to help adults with obesity.
Amazon Pharmacy is the second third-party dispensing provider for LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions, following Truepill. To receive home delivery services for certain Lilly medications, patients ask their doctor to select LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions as their pharmacy. Then, the prescription will be sent to LillyDirect powered by Amazon Pharmacy or Truepill. This is dependent on factors like the patient’s insurance.
“When a provider prescribes any of these medications, they will prescribe it to LillyDirect, LillyDirect will take care of that patient and make sure that their prior authorization is done and really take care of that patient and then send that script over to Amazon Pharmacy,” said Tanvi Patel, director of Amazon Pharmacy, in a recent interview.
Lilly chose Amazon Pharmacy as a dispensing provider because it “can deliver tech-enabled solutions, excellent customer service and focus and commitment to patient safety,” said Frank Cunningham, group vice president of global value and access at Lilly, in an interview.
Cunningham declined to share the terms of the arrangement with Amazon Pharmacy.
Amazon Pharmacy also offers 24/7 clinical pharmacy support for patients, which includes information on how to administer injections and side effects.
“We’re hoping that we can bridge the gap through our 24/7 clinical pharmacy support where they can talk through those drug interactions, help with medication that has to be dose adjusted through step therapy. Maybe we do an extra week at a certain dose before escalating, maybe we send that message to the provider,” said Dr. Vin Gupta, chief medical officer of Amazon Pharmacy, in an interview.
The announcement comes at a time when about 98 million adults in the U.S. have prediabetes and about 40 million have diabetes. In addition, more than 40% of American adults battle obesity. However, many patients struggle to access treatment.
Amazon Pharmacy has had a series of announcements in the last year. In August, it announced that it is launching automatic coupons for more than 15 insulin and diabetes care brands. In October, it began delivering prescription medications via drone in College Station, Texas. It was also recently tapped by Blue Shield of California, which decided to shake up its prescription drug model by largely cutting out CVS Caremark as its pharmacy benefit manager (though keeping it around for specialty pharmacy services). The insurer is partnering with an additional four companies, including Amazon Pharmacy for home delivery services.
Photo: Flickr, Cerillion Skyline
