June 7 (Reuters) - Kroger Health, the arm of grocer

Kroger ( KR ) that runs pharmacies and clinics across the U.S.,

said on Friday it had revamped its weight management program to

allow patients to explore medical treatments, including access

to GLP-1s such as Wegovy, Zepbound and others.

Kroger ( KR ) joins retail peer Costco Wholesale ( COST ) in

offering access to the vastly popular GLP-1 agonists, a class of

highly effective diabetes and obesity drugs.

Kroger Health's The Little Clinic will offer the program

starting at $99 per visit both in person and through telehealth

options.

GLP-1 drugs have been in strong demand in the U.S., but have

faced intermittent shortages over the past year, with makers

such as Eli Lilly ( LLY ) and Novo Nordisk's racing

to ramp up supply.

Zepbound was launched by Lilly as a weight-loss treatment in

the U.S. in December last year and listed at $1,059.87 a month

at the time. Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, which was approved for

obesity treatment in 2021, was listed at $1,349 per-package.

About one in eight adults in the U.S. has taken a drug

belonging to the GLP-1 class of medications for weight loss and

related conditions, a poll by Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF)

showed in May.

About 54% of those who have taken GLP-1 drugs found it a

challenge to afford them, even with insurance, the poll showed.

Kroger Health operates more than 2,200 pharmacies and 226

clinics in 35 states in the U.S.