Endpoints News

Exclusive: Ilant Health raises $15M		Read in browser

Tuesday, 2 June 2026

Thank you for reading, dupa dupackia!

basic

UPGRADE

LGBTQ+ diversity drives innovation in biopharma — but transgender and non-binary professionals face rising challenges. Endpoints is going live with our fourth annual special report celebrating the honorees giving voice and visibility while forging ahead across life sciences. Join us.

Formulary complexity

Last week, Eli Lilly proclaimed that its weight loss shot and pill are now “covered for millions of Americans,” now that all three major pharmacy benefit managers have put the drugs on their commercial formularies.

But it’s not that simple. Many people in the US (more than 150 million) get their health benefits through an employer, most of which pay their own healthcare costs and dictate what services and prescription drugs are covered.

So while Lilly getting in with PBMs will give employers the option of paying for those drugs, it’s very likely that many will continue to opt out.

The number of employers covering GLP-1s varies widely across surveys, but according to Lilly, it’s about half. And that figure hasn’t budged much in the last year, a Lilly exec told me in March.

That’s why Lilly has been investing in direct-to-consumer channels, as well as trying new things, like letting employers bypass PBMs to buy drugs at a transparent price (though it’s expecting only “incremental” opt-ins from this strategy, starting in 2027). Novo Nordisk has made similar moves.

It seems clear at this point that only one thing is really going to move the needle on employer and health plan adoption: significantly lower prices. Yes, GLP-1 drugmakers have lowered their prices several times, in response to competition from each other and compounding pharmacies.

But for employers, it hasn’t been enough.

- Shelby

Here’s what’s new

Exclusive: Obesity care startup Ilant Health raises $15M

Ilant is one of many virtual care companies competing to help employers and health plans provide medical care for obesity to their workers and members. Some, including Ilant, are partnering with GLP-1 makers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to do so.

But where Ilant stands apart is in its use of data analytics combined with an integrated care team of obesity medicine doctors, dietitians, mental health clinicians and peer navigators, Ilant founder and CEO Elina Onitskansky told Endpoints News.

Lilly's Foundayo and Zepbound to gain CVS coverage, lifting sales outlook

Eli Lilly’s flagship obesity medications will be included in CVS Caremark formularies, likely boosting sales in the most competitive commercial drug market.

Micro evidence

A post on X from Eric Topol showing an empty box and the text: "Here's all the published data on GLP-1 micro-dosing"

Given our recent conversations about GLP-1s and longevity, this post from Eric Topol made us giggle. Still waiting for the day we can cover microdosing GLP-1s with at least some published data to cite.

This week in health Тech

Amazon Health Services has a new health lead: Roy Schoenberg. Schoenberg, the co-founder and former CEO at telehealth company Amwell, will replace Neil Lindsay, who has headed up the health services team since 2021.

“Telehealth broke the barrier to experiencing healthcare via technology,” Schoenberg wrote in a LinkedIn post about his new role. “Now, with this door wide open — more modern, transparent and gratifying healthcare experiences can emerge. Let's go.”

Garner Health, a startup that helps steer you to better doctors, raised $100 million. The Series E round, led by Index Ventures, values the company at $2.7 billion.

Teladoc’s virtual care services are now available through Walmart, as part of Walmart’s Better Care Services platform. The news drove Teladoc’s stock up by 14% on Thursday.

... And of course, we're watching as Anthropic confidentially files to go public. We're curious how the AI giant's healthcare and life sciences businesses show up in the S-1 that's sure to be quite the read.

2029 Becker Drive; Lawrence, Kansas 66047 USA Privacy and deletion: help@endpointsnews.com

Endpoints Studio
Endpoints Webinars

Endpoints Events
Biopharma Jobs

Worldwide made. Thanks for reading.

Unsubscribe preferences

Unsubscribe from all newsletters