Novo Nordisk offers cheaper Wegovy
Novo Nordisk makes available cheaper Wegovy, via it's savings plan, purchasable at local pharmacies.
With the prospect of cheaper semaglutide via compounders vanishing, there's been some good news on the affordability front for GLP1s – Novo Nordisk is lowering prices on their direct-to-consumer cash-first offering to $499/month.
While this doesn't help those who can't pay out of pocket (insurers still actively avoid covering GLP1s, and MSRP via other distributors), those who can afford to spare $499/month can access Wegovy via the "savings program"
NOVO NORDISK INC.
Today, Novo Nordisk announced updates to the Wegovy® savings program, allowing all eligible cash-paying patients access to Wegovy® (semaglutide) injection 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, and 2.4 mg at their local pharmacy for a reduced cost of $499 per month. Until today, the $499-per-month offer for Wegovy® was only available via the recently launched NovoCare® Pharmacy.
Now, people can purchase Wegovy at their local pharmacies, rather than only at the Novo Nordisk controlled NovoCare pharmacy.
A reaction to competition?
One important insight was picked up by FiercePharma reporting:
A month ago, Lilly unveiled $499 offerings of its rival weight-loss drug Zepbound exclusively through the company’s LillyDirect Self Pay Pharmacy Solutions. Since then, the Indianapolis pharma has been offering Zepbound 2.5mg dose at $349 per month, or $499 per month for the 5 mg, 7.5 mg and 10 mg doses for self-pay patients.
While it's hard to prove, competition enables behavior like this, which is why the long term solution to high prices for GLP1 receptor agonists is not likely to be compounding (which was temporary, at best), but likely more companies performing research and getting FDA-approved treatments into the marketplace.
What did consumers pay before?
While the sticker-price for semaglutide is still $1000/month in many places, there are increasingly options to purchase semaglutide (Wegovy, Ozempic) for less than $1000.
We've done some work to try and combine the sources of Wegovy and what people have reported paying:
GLP1.Guide Staff
The cheapest out-of-pocket options are still coverage via insurers, but as companies have opened up direct-to-consumer options, there are cheaper been official non-compounded options.
Novo Nordisk's Wegovy savings offer was previously priced at $650/month, so the $499/month is about a 23% savings.
Are all doses covered?
Yes, thankfully the Wegovy savings program covers all doses of Wegovy, from 0.25mg to 2.4mg (the maximum dosage)
Who's eligible?
As noted earlier, this savings program is only for those paying out of pocket, which means that those who want to use insurance or use a government provided option such as medicaid cannot use this savings program.
Usage of GLP1s has skyrocketed for many patients covered by medicare/medicaid, and for those patients the government is entering into active negotiations:
GLP1.Guide Staff
