Lilly demands doctors stop selling copycat weight-loss drugs, Bloomberg reports

(Reuters) -Eli Lilly has sent cease-and-desist letters to U.S. healthcare providers in recent days to stop the promotion of copycat weight-loss drugs as the supply of its brand-name medicines improves, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.

The letters were sent to telehealth companies, wellness centers and medical spas selling compounded versions of weight loss drug Zepbound and diabetes treatment Mounjaro, a spokesperson said, according to the report.

Compounded drugs are tailor-made by combining, mixing, or altering ingredients to the needs of an individual patient. They can be made and distributed with fewer restrictions when a drug appears on the shortage list.

Lilly now considers the brand-name drugs to be available and said compounded drugs should not be sold anymore, Bloomberg reported citing a spokesperson.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has also listed all doses of Lilly’s drugs as available but has not removed them from the shortage list.

FDA in an emailed response said it is currently working to determine if the available supply of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro and Zepbound, would meet its definition of a resolved shortage.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:) did not immediately respond to Reuters request for comment.

Bloomberg reported, citing interviews and records, that several brick-and-mortar clinics also received letters.

The letters, signed by attorneys at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, command providers to stop the “manufacture, promotion, and/or sale” of compounded versions of Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, Bloomberg said.

The U.S. drugmaker has previously sued several medical spas, weight-loss clinics and compounding pharmacies to stop them from selling products claiming to contain tirzepatide.