In brief: Eli Lilly has launched LillyDirect in Australia, allowing people with an electronic prescription for eligible Lilly medicines to arrange pharmacy dispensing and home delivery through an online platform. The initial service includes Mounjaro (tirzepatide). Lilly says the service offers competitive pricing and included home delivery, but LillyDirect does not prescribe or dispense medicines itself. The launch has also prompted criticism from Australian pharmacy organisations concerned about manufacturer-linked medicine supply.
Australians prescribed Mounjaro now have another way to obtain their medicine.
Eli Lilly has launched LillyDirect Australia, an online fulfilment platform through which patients can submit an existing electronic prescription and arrange for eligible Lilly medicines to be dispensed by a licensed Australian pharmacy and delivered to their home.
The service is initially focused on selected medicines prescribed for obesity, type 2 diabetes and moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea. Lilly describes LillyDirect as being powered by digital health company Evermed and connected to licensed pharmacies responsible for dispensing, fulfilment and delivery.
The launch is significant because Mounjaro remains an expensive private prescription for many Australians, while the wider question of government funding for GLP-1 weight-loss treatments remains unresolved.
It has also generated opposition from pharmacy organisations concerned about what the model could mean for the relationship between medicine manufacturers, pharmacies and patients.
How does LillyDirect work in Australia?
LillyDirect is not itself a pharmacy, and it does not provide the prescription.
According to Lilly, the process begins with a healthcare professional independently prescribing an eligible Lilly medicine. The patient must have an electronic prescription, or e-script.
The patient can then use LillyDirect to:
- Create an account on the LillyDirect platform.
- Enter the token from their electronic prescription.
- Confirm the medicine and delivery details.
- Pay through the platform.
- Receive the medicine after it has been dispensed by a licensed pharmacy.
Lilly says prescribing decisions and clinical responsibility remain with the patient’s healthcare professional. A licensed pharmacy handles the actual dispensing of the medicine before it is delivered to the patient’s address.
This distinction is important. Although the service creates a more direct digital route between patients and medicines manufactured by Lilly, the manufacturer is not dispensing Mounjaro directly to patients.
Do you still need a prescription for Mounjaro?
Yes.
Mounjaro is a prescription medicine in Australia, and LillyDirect requires an existing electronic prescription before a patient can use the fulfilment service.
Lilly states that LillyDirect is not a pharmacy and does not prescribe or dispense medication. Prescribing remains the responsibility of the patient’s healthcare professional.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA) lists Mounjaro as a prescription medicine containing tirzepatide. It is approved in Australia for type 2 diabetes and chronic weight management in eligible adults. Its approved indications have also been extended to include moderate-to-severe obstructive sleep apnoea in adults with obesity.
Is Mounjaro cheaper through LillyDirect?
Lilly promotes LillyDirect as providing competitive pricing, but there is no single public Mounjaro price displayed on its general information page.
Instead, Lilly says the medicine price depends on the patient’s prescription and that pricing is shown within the platform after the e-script code has been entered. Home delivery is included in the price.
That means patients comparing LillyDirect with a local or online pharmacy should compare the actual price presented for their prescribed Mounjaro strength rather than assume LillyDirect will necessarily be the cheapest option.
Is Mounjaro subsidised by the PBS for weight loss?
No. The launch of LillyDirect should not be confused with a new Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme subsidy.
Australian Government material examining equitable access to GLP-1 medicines states that GLP-1 medicines are not currently subsidised through the PBS for weight loss, meaning patients using them for weight management generally have to pay privately.
The PBS position on tirzepatide has also involved consideration of its use for type 2 diabetes. The Australian Government’s Medicine Status information for tirzepatide shows that a submission seeking a PBS listing for type 2 diabetes was considered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Advisory Committee (PBAC) but was not recommended.
Separately, Australia continues to consider how GLP-1 medicines might eventually be funded for obesity.
A PBAC review of obesity treatments stated that the committee had not at that point recommended a medicine for PBS listing specifically for weight management or treatment of obesity.
There has subsequently been movement involving Wegovy (semaglutide) for a narrower population. PBAC recommended a proposed PBS listing for people with established cardiovascular disease and obesity, although the government’s Medicine Status information showed that the listing process had not yet been completed at its latest update.
There are therefore two separate developments: LillyDirect changes how some privately prescribed medicines can be obtained; it does not itself change PBS eligibility.
Why has LillyDirect attracted criticism?
The launch has produced a strong response from parts of Australia’s pharmacy profession.
The Pharmacy Guild of Australia and the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia have publicly warned about what they describe as the “Americanisation of medicine supply” in response to the LillyDirect model.
The concerns sit within a broader regulatory debate that predates LillyDirect.
The Australian Health Practitioner Regulation Agency (Ahpra), together with the Medical, Nursing and Midwifery and Pharmacy Boards of Australia, has previously issued a joint statement about professional responsibilities in prescribing and dispensing models.
The regulators acknowledged that new healthcare models, including telehealth, can improve access, but raised concerns about services designed around access to a predetermined medicine and situations in which commercial incentives could compromise appropriate care.
The statement also addresses what regulators call “closed loop prescribing”, where the prescriber and medicine supplier are not sufficiently independent. It emphasises that patients should be able to choose where their prescriptions are dispensed and that practitioners remain individually responsible for safe and appropriate care regardless of the business model in which they work.
LillyDirect differs in an important respect from a service that both prescribes and supplies a predetermined medicine. Lilly says prescribing decisions remain with the patient’s healthcare professional, while licensed pharmacies connected through the platform undertake dispensing.
Whether that separation sufficiently addresses the wider concerns being raised about manufacturer-linked fulfilment is now part of the Australian debate.
What does LillyDirect mean for Australian patients?
For patients who already have a valid prescription for an eligible medicine, LillyDirect adds another dispensing and delivery option.
The practical attraction is straightforward: rather than taking an e-script to a physical pharmacy or arranging dispensing through another online pharmacy, a patient can enter the prescription token online and have the medicine delivered.
Patients should still consider the same issues that matter when choosing any pharmacy service, including:
- the total price of the prescribed medicine;
- who is actually dispensing it;
- access to a pharmacist when questions arise;
- delivery arrangements, particularly for temperature-sensitive medicines;
- continuity with existing healthcare providers; and
- whether another pharmacy offers a better price or more suitable service.
LillyDirect does not replace the prescribing relationship between the patient and their healthcare professional, nor does its launch make Mounjaro a PBS-subsidised weight-loss medicine.
Why this development matters
LillyDirect represents something larger than a new home-delivery option for one popular medicine.
Drug manufacturers, telehealth companies, online pharmacies and traditional community pharmacies are increasingly intersecting within the same digital medication-access journey.
For patients, those models may provide greater convenience and potentially more price competition. For regulators and healthcare professionals, they also create questions about continuity of care, commercial incentives, prescribing independence and the role of traditional pharmacy.
Mounjaro makes those questions particularly visible because demand for GLP-1 medicines has grown rapidly while many Australian patients continue to pay privately for treatment.
LillyDirect therefore gives Australians another way to fill an existing prescription. The more consequential question may be whether manufacturer-linked pharmacy fulfilment becomes a significant part of how prescription medicines are supplied in Australia.
Reviewed by: Mattias Hagman, PhD
About the reviewer: Dr Mattias Hagman (PhD, University of Sydney) has an academic background and experience working with healthcare-related content and regulated industries. He has lecturing experience at international universities, including Stockholm University and the University of Malta.
Last reviewed: October 2026
Official and industry sources
- Eli Lilly Australia — LillyDirect Australia
- Therapeutic Goods Administration — Mounjaro (tirzepatide)
- Australian Government PBS — GLP-1 medicines and obesity access
- Australian Government PBS — Tirzepatide medicine status
- Australian Government PBS — PBAC obesity treatments review
- Australian Government PBS — Semaglutide medicine status
- Ahpra — Professional responsibilities in prescribing and dispensing
- Pharmacy Guild of Australia
This article is for informational purposes and does not provide medical advice. Prescription medicines should only be used following advice from an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.