Copenhagen/London — Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk launched its once-daily Wegovy pill in the US on Monday, offering 1.5mg and 4mg doses at $149 a month for self-paying patients in an intensely competitive weight-loss drug market. The Wegovy pill could attract new consumers as Novo looks to revive its fortunes after profit warnings and sliding shares last year. The pill offers more flexibility and an alternative for those who dislike needles used in injectable medication.
Shares of the Danish drugmaker rose more than 2% in late morning trading. Lilly shares fell about 1% in US premarket trading. A key part of the success of the pill will be attracting cash-paying consumers who cannot get insurance coverage.
That will be a stark shift from the dominant business model, with drug pricing managed through health insurance plans. The low 1.5mg dose is the starter dose for the Wegovy pill, which is made up of semaglutide, the same active ingredient found in its blockbuster injectable weight-loss and diabetes treatments, marketed under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic. Novo also offers the 1.5mg starter dose for its oral semaglutide drug for type-2 diabetes, sold as Rybelsus.
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Novo’s pill will also be sold in 9mg and a higher long-term dose of 25mg. The drugmaker’s website showed that the two higher doses will be priced at $299 for a month’s supply, while the 4mg dose will rise to $199 from April 15. Lilly plans to cap higher doses of its obesity pill, if approved, at $399 a month for repeat cash buyers.
Lilly’s injectable drug, Zepbound, has largely been ahead of Wegovy in weekly US prescriptions over the past year. US list prices for the injectables are about $1,000 a month or more. Both companies have reduced prices of their injectables for customers paying in cash rather than using health insurance.
Novo began selling its Wegovy injection at $349 a month to cash payers in November. Under a deal with President Donald Trump, Novo and Lilly also agreed to offer starter doses of their weight-loss pills at $149 a month for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees, and to cash payers via the White House’s new direct-to-consumer TrumpRx site, which is expected to be launched this month.
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