The weight loss drug price wars are intensifying as the companies behind them try to make them more affordable for consumers who don’t have coverage for them under their health insurance plans.
Novo Nordisk — the maker of Wegovy and Ozempic — announced Monday that it is now offering self-pay customers the weight loss drugs for as little as $199 a month.
The Danish company is trying to regain market share from Eli Lilly — which makes Mounjaro and Zepbound — by making its weight loss drug considerably cheaper. Zepbound jumped in popularity after clinical trials showed it was more effective than Wegovy and had fewer complaints about side effects.
Starting Monday, the starter doses of Wegovy and Ozempic will be $199 a month and higher doses will cost $349 a month — down from the current $499 a month. The lower prices are available directly through the company’s website, CVS, Costco, and select telehealth providers such as GoodRx, Ro, and Weight Watchers, according to the company.
In comparison, Lilly currently charges $349 a month to cash-paying customers for the lower doses of Zepbound and $499 a month for higher doses.
“As pioneers of the GLP-1 class, we are committed to ensuring that real, FDA-approved Wegovy and Ozempic are affordable and accessible to those who need them,” the executive vice president of Novo Nordisk in the United States, Dave Moore, says. “Our new savings offers provide immediate impact, bringing forward greater cost savings for those who are currently without coverage or choose to self-pay.”
Mr. Moore says the price reduction is part of a larger strategy to expand access for people living with chronic diseases like obesity and type 2 diabetes by building relationships with telehealth providers and major retailers.
GLP-1 drugs have exploded in popularity over the past several years but originally came with price tags above $1,000 a month. Many insurance companies have balked at covering the drugs because of their high prices. The drugs have been too expensive for many patients to pay out-of-pocket — especially as a long term solution.
About one in eight adults say they are currently taking a GLP-1 drug to lose weight or treat a chronic condition, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll released last week. The poll found more than a quarter of respondents say they are paying the full cost of the drugs themselves and more than half of GLP-1 users say it was difficult to afford the cost.
The price cut will make the cost of brand name drugs closer than compounded versions sold by online pharmacies. The companies that make compounded versions of weight loss drugs sell a “personalized” formula that includes other ingredients — like vitamin B12 — that are considered just enough of a change in the chemical composition of the drug to avoid patent violations. Those versions are being sold for prices as low as $129 a month.
The Trump administration recently negotiated with the drug companies to lower what they charge Medicaid programs for weight loss drugs. Under the agreement, Medicare enrollees will have access to them sometime next year with a $50 copay.
Both Novo and Lilly signed onto the agreement. Novo accelerated its price cut timeline to start months early.