(Reuters) – Eli Lilly has sent cease-and-desist letters to U.S. health care providers in recent days, urging them to stop promoting counterfeit weight-loss products as supplies of its branded drugs improve, Bloomberg News reported on Wednesday.
Lilly now believes the branded drugs are still available and said finished drugs from state-licensed facilities should no longer be sold, the report said, citing a spokesman.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently listed all doses of Eli Lilly’s (NYSE:) weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro as available, but did not remove them from the shortage drug list.
The health authority and Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to Reuters’ requests for comment.
The letters were sent to telemedicine companies, wellness centers and medical spas, a spokesman said, according to the report.
The report also said several inpatient clinics also received letters, according to interviews and records reviewed by Bloomberg.
The letters, signed by lawyers at Kirkland & Ellis LLP, ask vendors to stop “manufacturing, advertising and/or selling” compounded versions of Lilly’s Mounjaro and Zepbound, Bloomberg said.
