CVS Restores Zepbound Coverage, Adds Lilly Foundayo

CVS Health will restore coverage of Eli Lilly's weight-loss injection Zepbound and begin covering the company's new obesity pill, Foundayo, on its standard drug plans, a move that expands patient access to two major treatments. The pharmacy benefit manager CVS Caremark will add Zepbound as a preferred option starting October 1, while Foundayo will be added to its standard commercial formulary template on June 1.

This decision reverses a move made last year when CVS struck a deal with rival drugmaker Novo Nordisk, making its weight-loss drug Wegovy the preferred obesity treatment and dropping coverage of Zepbound. That arrangement meant patients on CVS plans faced higher out-of-pocket costs or additional hurdles to access Lilly's medication. Under the new policy, GLP-1 medications from both Lilly and Novo Nordisk will be co-preferred options on CVS Caremark's standard formulary, a list that represents approximately 25 to 30 million Americans.

A CVS spokesperson stated the change means that for clients providing coverage, there will be equal access to products from both Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, with consumers facing the same copays for each. Eligible patients with commercial...