Novo Nordisk reduces Ozempic, Wegovy prices
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Novo Nordisk is lowering the cash price of its weight-loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic.
Why it matters: Consumer advocates and policymakers — including the Trump administration and Democrats in Congress — have been pressing for public and private efforts to make GLP-1 treatments more affordable.
Zoom in: Novo — whose Ozempic has become a shorthand descriptor for weight-loss drugs for many Americans — is lowering the new standard monthly cash price of its two GLP-1 shots from $499 to $349.
- The company on Monday unveiled the new price through its own platforms after agreeing earlier this month to offer the reduced pricing on the White House's coming TrumpRx.
- Novo also announced an introductory offer of $199 per month — providing two months of treatment — for self-pay patients through March 31.
- The highest dose of Ozempic will remain at $499 per month.
Between the lines: Novo is fighting to scratch back crucial U.S. market share recently lost to rival Eli Lilly in GLP-1s.
The big picture: The move comes less than two weeks after the Trump administration announced a deal with Novo and Lilly for Medicare to cover weight-loss drugs.
Catch up quick: The companies agreed to cut the price Medicare pays for GLP-1s it already covers for diabetes and other indications to $245 per month.
- Initial coverage will be newly available to seniors who are severely obese; those who are overweight and have prediabetes or cardiovascular disease; and those who are obese and have advance kidney disease, heart failure or uncontrolled hypertension.
- Medicare enrollees will pay only a $50 copay out of pocket for GLP-1s, officials said.
What they're saying: The price cuts support "the long term vision that so many more people need access to these medicines than we are at today," Dave Moore, Novo's executive VP of U.S. operations, told Axios.
