Lilly launches home delivery service for privately prescribed medicines

Pharmaceutical firm Eli Lilly has launched a new home delivery service for privately prescribed medicines in the UK, including weight-loss drugs.

LillyDirect is a post-prescription dispensing and delivery service provided to private UK regulated healthcare companies that will securely deliver Lilly medicines in discreet packaging to the patient’s home with real-time delivery tracking, the firm said.

At launch, the service will be available for private prescriptions of Mounjaro (tirzepatide), although Lilly said it will evaluate which medicines could be added in future.

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Eli Lilly said that the new service aims to help to safeguard against the risk of counterfeit products entering the supply chain by delivering ‘authentic’ medicines to patients.

It also aims to ensure that medicines have been handled and stored in accordance with applicable regulations, it added.

Khalil Asmar, vice president for cardiometabolic health at Lilly UK and Northern Europe, said: ‘For a century and a half, our founding purpose – to make life better for patients – has driven every innovation we have pursued.

‘The launch of LillyDirect in the UK is a continuation of that legacy: using the tools and technologies available today to better serve patients tomorrow.

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‘We are committed to ensuring that once a patient has been prescribed a Lilly medicine, receiving it is as simple, secure and straightforward as possible.’

Eli Lilly said that the new service is currently supported by two dispensing partners – Onescript by Blueco Healthcare and Pharmacy2U.

Once an eligible private healthcare company has registered for the service, it can issue a private e-prescription that will be picked up by the LillyDirect dispensing partner to fulfil the dispensing and delivery.

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The company emphasised that healthcare professionals working for participating private healthcare providers would retain full responsibility for prescribing decisions and the ongoing patient-clinician relationship, with Lilly playing no role in clinical decision-making.