Eli Lilly Sues pharmacies for allegedly selling knock-offs, mis-marketing drugs

Eli Lilly, the Indianapolis-based pharmaceutical giant, filed two lawsuits on Sept. 19 in Florida Middle District Court against two pharmacy businesses.

First, the company filed a suit accusing a Florida pharmacy of manufacturing and selling a knock-off version of Lilly’s blockbuster diabetes drug Mounjaro. The suit, backed by King & Spalding, alleges that defendant Archangel Raphael LLC, which operates as Better Life Pharmacy, is selling unapproved drugs purporting to contain tirzepatide, the active pharmaceutical ingredient in Mounjaro. According to the suit, Lilly is the only supplier of FDA-approved tirzepatide drugs in the U.S. Attorneys have not yet appeared for the defendant.

Second, Eli Lilly sued Wells Pharmacy Network over the plaintiff’s type-2 diabetes medication Mounjaro. The suit, brought by King & Spalding, is part of a wave of cases accusing companies of marketing drugs to patients for weight loss under the Mounjaro label; according to the complaint, the drugs are not the plaintiff’s products, but instead are tirzepatide-based compounded drugs which lack FDA approval. Attorneys have not yet appeared for the defendant.