Pharma Giant Eli Lilly Loses Billions Due to Elon Musk’s Twitter Blue Verification Mess

A verified Twitter account posing as the pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly tweeted an odd message on Thursday afternoon.

The tweet said: "We are excited to announce that insulin is free now." However, Fortune reported that the company apologized for the misleading tweet of someone pretending to be the firm.

Eli Lilly noted that the company sells insulin, but it is not free. The fake Twitter account, with the handle @EliLillyandCo, used the Eli Lilly logo and had the verified blue checkmark by paying $8 monthly for Twitter Blue.

Twitter Blue was introduced after Elon Musk bought the social media platform for $44 billion. Twitter's brand-new service comes with a blue check that previously signified legitimate accounts. Musk wanted the site to make money from it.

Elon Musk Twitter Blue Allows Creation of Fake Eli Lilly Account

Elon Musk's plan to change how Twitter verifies accounts caused a fuss on the social media site since any user can buy a blue tick for an $8 monthly subscription.

Twitter's famous blue checkmark recently resulted in many fake accounts on the site, a lot of which posted rude or controversial messages such as the one posted by the fake user "EliLillyandCo." The fake Eli Lilly account tweet got more than 10,000 likes and thousands of retweets while it was still posted for at least three hours.

Tarsis Lopez, a spokesperson for Eli Lilly, said they "are aware of the fake account and in conversations with Twitter to address the matter," Endpoints reported. The fake @EliLillyandCo account is no longer verified as of Friday, and its tweets have reportedly been set to private.

Elon Musk Suspends Twitter Blue After Eli Lilly Stock Plunged

Eli Lilly (LLY) took a dive in the stock market on Friday, dipping 4.37 percent to $352.30. It erased over $15 billion in market cap after the Twitter Blue verified account impersonating the company promised free insulin.

As a response, The Toronto Star reported that Elon Musk has suspended Twitter Blue sign-ups as of Friday afternoon, less than 48 hours after it was launched.

According to an internal memo acquired by Zoë Schiffer of Platformer, the move was made to "help address impersonation issues."

Since Twitter Blue was launched Wednesday, pranksters pretending to be brands and celebrities and even Musk himself have flooded the site with many misleading and unflattering tweets.

Several comedians have already been banned from Twitter for tweets that made fun of Musk. It reportedly happened just days after Musk said that "comedy is now acceptable on Twitter."

Both comedian Kathy Griffin and internet sensation Ethan Klein, who had confirmed "blue check" accounts, had their accounts suspended. Currently, the insulin market is dominated by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi. Together, they make up all of the insulin in the U.S. and 90 percent globally.

This article is owned by Latin Post.

Written by: Bert Hoover

WATCH: Did Eli Lilly Really Promise Free Insulin? - From 11Alive