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Novo Nordisk cuts Wegovy price to $349 for cash payers
early
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Novo launches $199 deal for Wegovy, Ozempic lowest doses
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GoodRx will launch a weight-loss telehealth service for
$39 a
month
By Patrick Wingrove
Nov 17 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk said on
Monday it has begun selling its popular weight-loss drug Wegovy
for $349 a month to cash payers, months ahead of the timeline
set out with the Trump administration.
The same cash price will apply to most doses of Novo's
diabetes drug Ozempic, the company said, except the highest 2 mg
dose, which will remain $499.
Novo and U.S. President Donald Trump announced a deal earlier
this month to cut the prices of Wegovy and Ozempic, both known
chemically as semaglutide, to $350 a month for cash payers
starting in January, down from $499.
U.S. rival Eli Lilly also announced that the lowest
dose of its obesity medicine Zepbound would be available for
$299 per month as of January, with additional doses priced at
$449 per month for cash-paying patients under the new deal.
Novo said Monday's move was part of a broader push to expand
access to "authentic, FDA-approved semaglutide medicines."
The Danish drugmaker has struggled this year to fend off
competition from Lilly, which moved faster to offer its drug to
cash payers, and from pharmacies and telehealth providers
selling cheaper copies of Wegovy.
Novo signaled deep change by appointing Mike Doustdar as CEO in
August, who quickly set a course for 9,000 layoffs at the
company worldwide and a major business reboot.
Novo also said on Monday it has rolled out an introductory
deal of $199 a month for the lowest two doses of Wegovy and
Ozempic. The offer applies for two months to any new patients
paying cash for the drugs between now and March 31, 2026.
The new cash offers can be accessed through the Ozempic or
Wegovy websites, Novo's direct-to-consumer website NovoCare, or
through various partners including GoodRx, WeightWatchers
and Costco, according to Novo.
GoodRx on Monday said it will also launch a weight-loss
telehealth service for Wegovy and Ozempic at $39 a month for
subscribers who sign up before February 1, 2026, rising to $119
a month afterward.
As part of their deal with Trump, starter doses of Novo's
and Lilly's highly anticipated weight-loss pills being
developed, if approved, would cost $149 per month to the
government for its Medicare and Medicaid enrollees and to cash
payers via the White House's new direct-to-consumer TrumpRx
site, the White House said earlier this month.
The companies' injectable obesity medicines would be sold to
the government's Medicare and Medicaid programs for a net price
of $245 a month.