Boxes of Ozempic and Wegovy manufactured by Novo Nordisk at a pharmacy in London on March 8, 2024.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Novo Nordisk said Monday it has reduced direct-to-consumer prices for its blockbuster weight-loss drug, Wegovy, and its diabetes counterpart, Ozempic, adding to efforts by the company and the Trump administration to make the treatments more accessible.
The Danish drugmaker is lowering the price of its medications for patients who currently pay cash, from $499 a month to $349. But Novo Nordisk said the cash cost of the highest dose of Ozempic would remain at $499 per month.
Also Monday, Novo Nordisk launched a temporary introductory offer, which will allow new cash-paying patients access to the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 per month for the first two months of treatment. After this period, people move to the new standard monthly price charged directly to the consumer. The company’s introductory offer ends March 31.
The announcements come days after President Donald Trump struck deals with Novo Nordisk and its main rival. Elie Lilly to make their popular GLP-1 drugs more easily accessible and affordable for Americans. The deals will involve reducing the prices the government pays for drugs, introducing Medicare coverage for obesity drugs for the first time for some patients and offering discounted drugs on the government’s new direct-to-consumer website, launched in January and called TrumpRx.
“Our new savings offers are having an immediate impact, delivering greater savings for those who are currently without coverage or choosing to pay out of pocket,” Dave Moore, head of Novo Nordisk’s U.S. operations, said in a statement. “This is part of a larger strategy to expand access that includes building relationships with telehealth providers and large retailers, expanding coverage, and working with the administration to reduce costs for people living with chronic conditions like obesity.”
The Trump administration said initial doses of existing injections like Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound would cost $350 per month on TrumpRx, but would “trend downward” to $245 per month over a two-year period.
The day the deals were announced, Eli Lilly said it would lower prices by $50 on its own direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already offers Zepbound at a discount to cash-paying patients. Zepbound’s multidose pen will be available for $299 per month at the lowest dose, with additional doses going up to $449 per month.
Novo Nordisk’s new cash offerings are available through Wegovy.com or Ozempic.com, the company’s direct-to-consumer pharmacy, NovoCare, and other participating organizations and telehealth providers that work directly with the drugmaker, including Costco, BonRxWeightWatchers, Ro, LifeMD and eMed.