Pharmaceutical Executive Daily: Amazon Pharmacy to Offer GLP-1 Delivery Service

Welcome to Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, your quick briefing on the top news shaping the pharmaceutical and life sciences industry.

In today's Pharmaceutical Executive Daily, Amazon Pharmacy launches a GLP-1 delivery service for eligible Medicare patients, Tarsus Pharmaceuticals agrees to acquire Alkeus Pharmaceuticals for $450 million to advance a Stargardt disease therapy, and FDA grants accelerated approval to Replimune's Tudriqev in combination with nivolumab for advanced melanoma.

Amazon Pharmacy is now delivering GLP-1 weight management medications, including Wegovy, Zepbound, and Foundayo, to eligible Medicare patients for $50 a month with free home delivery. The offering runs through the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge Program, a CMS initiative extending through the end of 2027 that helps eligible Part D members access weight management prescriptions at a predictable cost. Amazon Pharmacy says it handles benefit verification, prior authorization, and enrollment on a patient's behalf once a clinician submits an electronic prescription, and offers same-day delivery in more than 3,100 U.S. cities and towns. The company plans to expand same-day coverage to nearly 4,500 cities and towns by the end of the year.

Tarsus Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire Alkeus Pharmaceuticals for approximately $450 million, centered on gildeuretinol, an investigational once-daily oral therapy for Stargardt disease. The upfront consideration includes $270 million in cash and $180 million in Tarsus stock, with up to $350 million in additional milestone payments tied to regulatory approval and commercial sale. In the Tease-1 study, gildeuretinol slowed the growth of atrophic retinal lesions by nearly 30 percent compared with an untreated arm, a result that reached statistical significance.

Finally, FDA has granted accelerated approval to Replimune's Tudriqev, formerly known as RP1, in combination with nivolumab for adults with unresectable advanced cutaneous melanoma who progressed on prior anti-PD-1 therapy. In the Ignyte trial's efficacy-evaluable population, the combination achieved an objective response rate of 24.2 percent, with a median duration of response of 14.1 months. The approval caps a nearly two-year regulatory path that included two earlier complete response letters, followed by a favorable FDA advisory committee vote last month.

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