Boxes of Ozempic and Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk at a pharmacy in London on March 8, 2024.
Hollie Adams | Reuters
Novo Nordisk on Monday said it has cut the direct-to-consumer prices of its blockbuster weight loss drug Wegovy and 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 the drugs for existing cash-paying patients to $349 per month from $499 per month. But Novo Nordisk said the cash-pay cost of the highest dose of Ozempic will remain $499 per month.
Also on Monday, Novo Nordisk launched a temporary introductory offer, which will allow new cash-paying patients to access the two lowest doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199 per month for the first two months of treatment. After that period, people move to the new standard monthly direct-to-consumer price. The company’s introductory offer ends on March 31.
The announcements come days after President Donald Trump struck deals with Novo Nordisk and chief rival Eli Lilly to make their popular GLP-1 drugs easier for Americans to access and afford. Those agreements will involve cutting the prices the government pays for the drugs, introducing Medicare coverage of obesity drugs for the first time for certain patients and offering discounted medicines on the government’s new direct-to-consumer website launching in January called TrumpRx.
“Our new savings offers provide immediate impact, bringing forward greater cost savings for those who are currently without coverage or choose to self-pay,” said Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s head of U.S. operations, said in a release. “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 said starting doses of existing injections like Wegovy and Eli Lilly’s weight loss drug Zepbound will be $350 per month on TrumpRx, but will “trend down” to $245 per month over a two-year period.
On 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. The multidose pen of Zepbound will be available at $299 per month at the lowest dose, with additional doses being priced up to $449 per month.
Novo Nordisk’s new cash-pay offers 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, GoodRx, WeightWatchers, Ro, LifeMD and eMed.