Novo Nordisk on Monday announced it has reduced the direct-to-consumer prices of its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes counterpart Ozempic, further notching the progress of both the firm and the Trump administration to make the treatments more affordable.
The Danish drugmaker company is reducing the costs of the medications for the current cash-paying patients to $349 every month instead of $499 every month.
Novo Nordisk also introduced a one-month temporary introductory offer on Monday, under which new cash-paying patients will get the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic at $199 each month over the first two rounds of treatment.
At the same time, individuals shift to the new standard monthly direct-to-consumer price. The introductory offer of the company will come to an end on March 31.
The announcements follow the days after President Donald Trump negotiated a deal with Novo Nordisk and their competitor Eli Lilly to make their popular GLP-1 drugs more accessible and affordable to Americans.
The agreements will include reduced prices that the government will pay on the drugs, providing Medicare coverage on the obesity drugs to some patients first time, and providing discounted medicines in a new government direct-to-consumer website, which will launch in January, named TrumpRx.
In a release, Executive Vice President US Operations and Business Development and President of Novo Nordisk, Dave Moore, said that “Our new savings offers provide immediate impact, bringing forward greater cost savings for those who are currently without coverage or choose to self-pay. It is part of a larger strategy to expand access that includes building relationships with telehealth providers and major retailers, expanding coverage, and working with the Administration to lower costs for people living with chronic diseases like obesity.”
The Trump administration announced that the initial doses of current injections, such as Wegovy and the weight loss medication Zepbound used by Eli Lilly, will be priced at $350 monthly on TrumpRx, but will “trend down” to 245 monthly at the end of two years.
The same day the agreement was announced, Eli Lilly stated that it would reduce prices by $50 on its own direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already offers its Zepbound at a discount to its cash-paying patients.
The multidose pen of Zepbound will cost $299 per month at the lowest dose, with other doses priced as high as $449 per month.
The new cash-pay deals of Novo Nordisk can be availed of through Wegovy.com or Ozempic.com, which is the direct-to-consumer pharmacy of the company, NovoCare, and other companies and telehealth providers that collaborate with the drugmaker, such as Costco and GoodRx, as well as in WeightWatchers, Ro, LifeMD, and eMed.
