Damo reviews Cigna diet pill out-of-pocket policy: in line with LLY.US pricing guidelines without changing long-term growth potential

The Zhitong Finance App learned that Morgan Stanley recently published a research report commenting on recent developments in the field of diet pills. Evernorth, a subsidiary of Cigna (CI.US), recently announced a new benefit plan that limits the monthly out-of-pocket expenses of patients using LLY.US (LLY.US) Zepbound and NVO.US (NVO.US) Wegovy, and maintains its non-exclusive strategy.

This strategy is a significant difference from CVS's Caremark partnership plan announced on May 2 to list WegoVy as the drug of choice in its national prescription collection starting July 1.

The bank communicated with Eli Lilly's investor relations department about news related to Cignac/Evernorth. The other party stated: (1) This is an open access agreement, which is in line with the company's contract strategy;

(2) The first part of the agreement is that Cigna is promoting the program ($200 co-payment plan) to provide employers with an option to comply with coverage requirements at a lower cost. In addition to the patient's $200 out-of-pocket expenses, the employer and Cigna are required to bear additional costs;

(3) The second part of the agreement is in the basic template managed by Evernorth to provide open access rights for Zepbound and Wegovy in 2026. Lilly did not provide further details on this, but it is expected that the pricing of the agreement is consistent with the company's expectations;

(4) The company's 2025 product portfolio pricing guidelines have not changed, and the price is expected to drop by 5%-9%.

The incident did not change Damo's judgment on Lilly's pricing strategy. Damo maintained Lilly's 12-month target price of $1,133, based on a 30-fold price-earnings ratio and 2027 earnings per share (EPS) forecast of $37.76. This valuation multiplier is higher than the industry average (15 times) and Lilly's historical average (28 times), reflecting its long-term confidence in Lilly's growth potential.