Why Eli Lilly is collaborating with Oura

Eli Lilly’s LillyDirect is trying on a new accessory.

On Tuesday, the pharmaceutical company’s digital healthcare platform announced a marketing collaboration with Oura, creator of the Oura smart ring. Now, consumers who make a free LillyDirect account can request a free Oura Ring sizing kit.

The context. Oura has a similar deal at Target, which offers a $10 Target gift card to customers who purchase a $10 Oura Ring 5 ring sizing kit, and Amazon, which offers a $10 credit toward the purchase of an Oura Ring 5. The sizing kit is also free with an Oura ring purchase.

But this collaboration is significant because it’s a step toward a digital health “ecosystem,” Jennifer Mazur, SVP of US LillyDirect and consumer services at Eli Lilly, told Healthcare Brew.

Oura has been in talks to collaborate with Lilly, creator of blockbuster GLP-1s Zepbound and Foundayo, since late last year, she added.

“It’s really a shared goal between Oura and LillyDirect to enable a healthcare ecosystem, one that [has] digital 24/7 access,” she said.

The partnership announcement also comes just weeks after Oura announced a new in-app tool called GLP-1 Insights, which helps GLP-1 users track their doses, side effects, and weight, according to a May 28 press release from the company. The app can also remind users to take their GLP-1 medications when their doses are due.

Despite this collaboration, Eli Lilly and Oura will not be sharing user data with each other, Mazur added.

Some history. The Oura collaboration also builds on past expansions of LillyDirect, which was launched in January 2024 as a way for consumers to directly access prescription drugs amid reluctance from some health insurance companies to cover pricey GLP-1s. It has since worked with other companies to offer more services.

LillyDirect has partnered with Thrive Global, a behavior change technology company, since January 2025, and Nourish, an independent virtual nutrition support program, since November 2024.

The future. Mazur added this is LillyDirect’s and Oura’s first and only collaboration so far.

It’s an opportunity to learn how these two companies can work together and gauge consumer interest, she said.

“We’ll see what comes of consumer interest, value to consumer, and if there’s more opportunity to collaborate in the future, but right now we’re staying focused on the marketing collaboration,” Mazur said.

Another expansion will come when Medicare starts piloting coverage of GLP-1s through the Medicare GLP-1 Bridge program on July 1. Though LillyDirect has built its reputation as a self-pay site, it plans to help consumers assess their eligibility and access GLP-1 prescriptions through that program, Mazur said.

“We’re really helping people take advantage of whatever their lowest out-of-pocket cost options are,” she said.