Adding to the pressure is that CVS Health has retained coverage of Zepbound's arch rival Wegovy (semaglutide), sold by Novo Nordisk, after negotiating a price cut with the company, along with Novo Nordisk's newly forged alliances with three leading telehealth companies to drive self-pay sales of its weight loss drug.

CVS Health Corp.’s drug-benefits unit negotiated a deal to make Novo Nordisk A/S’s Wegovy more widely available to its members, a blow to rival Eli Lilly & Co.’s Zepbound that was moved off the company’s list of preferred drugs.

Eli Lilly’s stock wobbled Thursday after a looming coverage hit was detailed for its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound.