Feb 25 (Reuters) - Eli Lilly ( LLY ) said on Tuesday it

has begun selling higher doses of its popular weight-loss drug

Zepbound in vials in the U.S. at a $150 discount to the cost of

the injector pen versions, as it seeks to spur further demand

for the medicine.

The drugmaker said patients could purchase 7.5 milligram and

10mg vials of Zepbound for $499 a month on the LillyDirect

website. That is nearly 23% less than the $650 Lilly charges for

auto-injectors of the drug to patients who are insured but not

covered for the medicine.

The U.S. drugmaker last August launched vials of the two

lowest doses of Zepbound, which is typically sold in

auto-injector pens, to help increase availability. On Tuesday,

it said it had also cut the prices for a month's supply of those

doses by around $50 each. They now cost $349 and $499 a month

through LillyDirect.

Patrik Jonsson, Eli Lilly's ( LLY ) president of cardiometabolic

health, said in an interview that more than 10% of patients

starting on Zepbound have been initiated on vials since their

launch.

Lilly is looking for ways to stimulate further demand for

Zepbound this year to help ease investor agitation over signs of

weakness in sales, and to better compete with Danish rival Novo

Nordisk's popular Wegovy.

Novo offers Wegovy on its website for $650 for a month's

supply to patients not covered by insurance for the drug, but

does not sell its medicine in vials.

Lilly's new offer of $499 per month is still higher than the

$231 to $330 compounding pharmacies typically charge for their

versions of Zepbound and Wegovy in the U.S., although

compounders have been told to cease selling their copies in the

coming months.

Shortages of the weight-loss drugs pushed patients to

cheaper compounded versions, which can be sold and distributed

in bulk as long as the original drug is on the U.S. Food and

Drug Administration's shortage list.

In the past three months, the FDA took both Zepbound and

Wegovy off its shortage list, spurring lawsuits from compounding

pharmacies.

Lilly said patients must refill their prescriptions of the

two higher dose vials within 45 days of their first fill to get

the same pricing, and would otherwise have to pay as much as

$699 for repeat prescriptions. Jonsson said this requirement

ensures patients comply with a dosing regimen approved by the

FDA.