** Shares of U.S. drugmaker Eli Lilly LLY.N rise 2.11% to $900.01 premarket

** The company says it has begun selling vials of higher dosages of its popular weight-loss drug Zepbound, which is typically sold in auto-injector pens, in the U.S.

** The vials are priced at a $150 discount to the cost of the injector pen version

** Says patients can purchase 7.5 mg and 10mg vials of Zepbound for $499 a month on from its B2C LillyDirect website

** Last August, co launched two lower dose vials of Zepbound to help increase availability

** Says it had reduced prices for a month's supply of lower dosage vials by around $50

** LLY rose 14.5% in the last 12 months

(Reporting by Siddhi Mahatole)

((Siddhiprabhanjan.mahatole@thomsonreuters.com))