June 20 (Reuters) - U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly ( LLY ) on

Thursday said it was suing six more U.S. medical spas, wellness

centers and other entities for selling products claiming to

contain tirzepatide, the active ingredient in its popular

diabetes drug Mounjaro.

Tirzepatide was approved late last year as Zepbound for

weight loss, and Lilly is the only company that has the approval

of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to sell the drug.

In its six separate lawsuits filed in the courts of Ohio,

Texas, Hawaii and the District of Columbia, Lilly has alleged

that some of these entities were falsely claiming that their

compounded versions of tirzepatide are approved by the FDA.

In an open letter, Lilly warned that unsafe or untested

compounded tirzepatide puts patients at risk and that it stands

against the use of its treatments for cosmetic weight loss.

Demand has been outpacing supply for GLP-1 drugs, which

include Novo Nordisk's Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound

and Mounjaro.

Some analysts have forecast that the market for these new

weight-loss drugs, which work by suppressing appetite and

promoting a feeling of fullness, could reach $150 billion by the

early 2030s.

Lilly and Danish rival Novo have sued several entities to

stop them from selling products claiming to contain the active

ingredients - tirzepatide and semaglutide - used in their

respective popular weight-loss drugs.

Last year, Lilly took similar actions against 10 spas,

wellness centers and compounding pharmacies.

(Reporting by Bhanvi Satija in Bengaluru; Editing by Anil

D'Silva)