Americans who turned to telehealth companies and compounding pharmacies for cheap versions of Eli Lilly & Co.’s weight-loss drugs are scrambling to figure out if they’ll still have access after US regulators signaled an end to their unfettered use.

Eli Lilly's weight-loss drug Zepbound and diabetes medication Mounjaro are no longer in short supply. That could limit cheaper copycat versions.

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has declared an end to the shortage of tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s popular weight loss medication Zepbound and diabetes drug Mounjaro.

BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman called it “another positive indication” for Eli Lilly, whose top-selling diabetes and weight loss drugs are gaining market share as manufacturing continues to expand,

Eli Lilly’s juggernaut diabetes and obesity drugs Mounjaro and Zepbound have been erased from the FDA’s shortage list, freeing the company from competing with compounding pharmacies that have been producing copycat versions of the in-demand treatments.

The removal of Zepbound and Mounjaro from the regulator’s shortage list could lead to restrictions on pharmacies making custom-made versions.

The announcement is a blow to the compounding pharmacies that have made cheaper, off-brand versions of the medication The two-year shortage of Eli Lilly’s blockbuster weight-loss and diabetes drugs is over,