By Amina Niasse
NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Amazon.com said on Thursday its pharmacy unit will stock Eli Lilly's new weight-loss pill at kiosks located at some of the company's primary care clinics and offer same-day delivery of the drug.
Amazon Pharmacy began delivering GLP-1 medications in 2021, but does not stock injectable versions of the drugs in kiosks because they need to be refrigerated.
No need for cold storage is "what allows for broader access and for them to be stored safely in a kiosk
for dispensing," Tanvi Patel, a vice president at Amazon Pharmacy, said of the pills.
About half of customers in the U.S. have access to same-day delivery, and the company aims to expand that, Patel said. All customers receive their medications within four days.
Amazon Pharmacy fulfills prescriptions made through Eli Lilly's direct-to-consumer pharmacy platform LillyDirect and has been stocking Novo Nordisk's Wegovy pill at its kiosks since January.
Patel said Amazon benefits from being Lilly's dispensing pharmacy because of the Indianapolis-based drugmaker's early direct-to-consumer focus.
Lilly said last week it would begin selling its newly approved Foundayo weight-loss pill directly to cash-pay customers through LillyDirect at $149 per month for the lowest dose.
Customers can also access Amazon's same-day delivery through Lilly's prescribing partners, such as WeightWatchers, said Patel.
Novo's rival Wegovy pill, which began selling in January, is currently stocked in five kiosks in California, where customers can pick up the drugs at Amazon's One Medical locations following a medical appointment.
Amazon last year announced the kiosks for selling widely used medications such as antibiotics, blood pressure medicines and asthma inhalers, saying the option would reduce barriers to access and limit shipping costs.
Patients without a membership to One Medical, Amazon's primary and urgent care business, can still book an appointment and use the kiosks. A one-year One Medical subscription fee costs $199.
As the kiosks are introduced beyond California, Patel said, their locations may expand to other providers or clinics, if allowed by state regulation.
Amazon invested over $4 billion in 2025 in an effort to triple its company-wide delivery options this year, targeting underserved small towns and rural areas. By the end of 2026, same-day delivery access should reach 4,500 locales, Patel said.
(Reporting by Amina Niasse; Editing by Caroline Humer and Bill Berkrot)
