--- title: "Eli Lilly Offering Way Cheaper Zepbound, If You’re Willing to Buy Your Own Syringes" description: "The makers of Zepbound are offering a massive price cut — if you're willing to purchase and dose your syringes out yourself. " date: "2024-09-01" modified: "2024-09-01" authors: - name: "Noor Al-Sibai" job_title: "Senior Staff Writer" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/nooralsibai" url: "https://futurism.com/neoscope/eli-lilly-cheaper-zepbound-diy" categories: - "Health & Medicine" - "Medical" - "RX and Medicine" tags: - "eli lilly" - "mounjaro" - "Weight Loss" - "zepbound" --- # Eli Lilly Offering Way Cheaper Zepbound, If You’re Willing to Buy Your Own Syringes ![The makers of Zepbound are offering a massive price cut — if you're willing to purchase and dose your syringes out yourself. ]() *Covid19 vaccine in injection ready for vaccination. The syringe represent various healthcare and medicine concepts. \Image: Stefan Cristian Cioata / Getty Images\* The makers of Zepbound, [one of the most popular]() new brands of weight loss injectables on the market, are offering a massive price cut — if you're willing to purchase and dose your syringes out yourself. In a [press release](), drug giant Eli Lilly announced that it's releasing single-dose vials of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Zepbound and its diabetes sister drug Mounjaro, that customers portion out themselves with syringes that aren't provided by the manufacturer. This new option, the drugmaker boasts, offers patients with valid prescriptions for the weight loss drug up to 50 percent savings compared to the preloaded auto-injection pens, which as [*NBC* notes]() can cost $1,059 regardless of dosage. The 2.5-milligram single-serve vial will cost $399 for a four-week supply, while the 5mg dose will run $549. In an [interview with *CNN*](), Jody Dushay, an assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, pointed out that dosing and injecting oneself with a syringe is still a somewhat common practice for the administration of the diabetes drug insulin. "It’s old school, but I have patients with type 1 and 2 diabetes who prefer vial and syringe to pen devices," the doctor said. "I don’t think it is a much bigger deal to use an insulin syringe vs auto injector, unless someone has severe needle phobia." In fact, there are already lots of people who draw up and inject tirzepatide themselves — though the way they go about getting it [can be a bit shady](). While the Lilly press release doesn't overtly name them, [*CNN*]() and [other outlets]() point out that this cheaper DIY dosing of Zepbound comes amid a spate of less-regulated compounded versions of tirzepatide and semaglutide, the active ingredient in Novo Nordisk's similar and uber-popular Ozempic and Wegovy injectables. "Distributing the vials via this channel ensures patients and providers can trust they are receiving genuine Lilly medicine," the press release explains, "building on the company's efforts to help protect the public from the dangers posed by the proliferation of counterfeit, fake, unsafe or untested knock-offs of Lilly's medications." While there are [state boards regulating compounding pharmacies](), which sell [so-called "generic" versions]() of drugs that are similarly doled out to savings-savvy customers in a DIY fashion, a [dearth of federal oversight]() and the often [confusing and inadequate dosing guidelines]() on compounded weight loss drugs makes them far less safe than their expensive brand name counterparts. Earlier this year, [*Healthline* reported]() on the cautionary tale of a woman who landed in the hospital with appendicitis after buying compounded semaglutide to help her fit into her wedding dress. Despite not naming compounding pharmacies in its discounted Zepbound press release, Lilly has — as [*Fierce Pharma* reported in June]() — hit at least six such providers with lawsuits for allegedly deceiving patients into thinking they were buying the real thing. With the release of this cheaper DIY dosing scheme, Lilly is clearly taking aim at its compounding competitors — but without the pre-dosed pen making the job all the easier, the brand name might just be losing a bit of its edge. **More on weight loss injectables:** [*New Study Establishes Link Between Ozempic and Suicidal Thoughts*]() ## Author At Futurism, I've often been drawn to unpacking the narratives that underlie technological, scientific and medical progress, with a special interest in areas of conflict and ambiguity that end up setting agendas and steering the fates of both elites and the hoi polloi. I'm a committed generalist, but I often find myself returning to work involving NASA and the private space sector, the effects of AI on media and society, and the mechanics of the pharmaceutical industry, with a specific focus on the spread of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy. Prior to Futurism, I worked for publications ranging from Media Matters and Truthdig to Raw Story and Bustle. I'm also the author of "Myspace Scene Queens," a 2024 title in Instar Books' acclaimed "Remember the Internet" series. My work at Futurism has been cited by outlets including the New Yorker, Slate, Nieman Lab, the Verge, the MIT Technology Review, the Sunday Times, and the Daily Beast. I grew up in North Carolina, attended the University of North Carolina at Asheville, and now live in Brooklyn, New York. In my free time, I'm an avid reader and music fan; you can probably find me at a local poetry reading, concert, underground rave, or DJ set. I'm the proud parent of an ineffable orange cat named Mee-Mow. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()