Facing increased competition in the weight loss market and intense pressure from President Donald Trump, Novo Nordisk announced Monday that it is lowering prices for its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs for cash-paying patients.
The move is the latest step in drugmakers’ efforts to provide discounts to Americans willing to buy medications directly from them and forgo insurance. Also, it’s another way Novo Nordisk is seeking to fend off compounding pharmacies that are cutting into the manufacturer’s sales by offering less-expensive versions of the super-popular GLP-1 drugs.
Novo Nordisk is now offering the first two monthly doses of Wegovy and Ozempic for $199, with the discount expiring at the end of March. It applies to the two lowest doses of the medication.
Also, the drugmaker is reducing the prices of Wegovy and Ozempic for other self-pay patients to $349 a month, down from $499 a month. (The 2-milligram dose of Ozempic will continue to cost $499.)
The discounts are available for self-paying customers who use the company’s direct-to-consumer channels and through Novo Nordisk’s various partners, including Costco, GoodRx and Weight Watchers, in addition to more than 70,000 retail pharmacies.
Novo Nordisk’s announcement comes shortly after the drugmaker, along with rival Eli Lilly, announced a major deal with the Trump administration that will broaden their access to the Medicare and Medicaid markets in exchange for reducing their prices.
Under the agreement, consumers buying injectable GLP-1 medications directly from the companies will pay an average of $350 per month to start, though the drugmakers have committed to reducing the price to about $250 over the next two years. If oral GLP-1 tablets are approved by the US Food and Drug Administration, the lowest dose will cost $149.
These prices will be available when TrumpRx, the administration’s direct-to-consumer online platform, launches in early 2026.
List prices for GLP-1 drugs range from around $1,000 to about $1,350, but consumers with insurance coverage for the medicines typically pay much less.
Novo Nordisk is counting on its self-pay channel to help boost sales in the US, as well as abroad. The cash market accounts for about 10% of total Wegovy prescriptions in the US, said Dave Moore, executive vice president of US operations.
“There’s a lot of interest in direct pay, self-pay,” Moore told CNN. “We know that’s an interest of people living with obesity.”
Novo Nordisk’s announcement comes as it faces increased pressure from Eli Lilly and compounding pharmacies, Evan Seigerman, a pharmaceutical analyst at BMO Capital Markets, wrote in a note to clients on Monday.
The reduced self-pay price for starter doses of Ozempic and Wegovy are closer to those available from compounding pharmacies and much lower than the cash price of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound, he said. (Starter doses of Zepound cost $349 a month through Eli Lilly’s direct-to-consumer channel, while higher doses are priced at $499 a month.)
Novo’s move on pricing “likely reflects a reaction to Novo’s softening market share as the company looks to regain its footing,” Seigerman wrote.
Roughly 1 in 8 adults say they currently use a GLP-1 drug such as Ozempic or Wegovy to lose weight or treat a chronic condition, according to a KFF Health Tracking Poll released Friday. About a quarter of people who have used the drugs and have health insurance said they paid the full cost themselves.
Among those who have ever used GLP-1 drugs, cost is among the most commonly cited reasons for stopping, the poll found.
Although insurers broadly cover Ozempic as a treatment for diabetes, coverage of Wegovy for weight loss is much spottier, in part because of the drug’s price. Wegovy’s list price is $1,349 a month, although those with insurance coverage typically pay far less.
Novo Nordisk also launched its direct-to-consumer pharmacy this year, offering Wegovy for $499 a month. In August, it began selling Ozempic at half-price, $499, to patients who pay cash.
Eli Lilly has also slashed the price of its GLP-1 weight loss drug, Zepbound, for self-pay patients.
