Novo Nordisk is lowering the price of Wegoby again, but doctors say the expense remains prohibitive for patients without insurance.
The drug company announced Monday that it has begun selling a high-dose, injectable obesity drug for $349 a month to patients who pay the full price. This is reduced from $499 and is in line with the terms of the drug price agreement. outlined earlier this month By President Donald Trump’s administration.
Novo also launched a temporary offer of $199 per month for the first two months for low-dose Wigovy and its equivalent, the diabetes drug Ozempic. The new pricing will be available at pharmacies, delivery services and select telemedicine providers nationwide.
Rival Eli Lilly also plans to lower the price of its weight-loss drug Zepbound once it brings a new multi-dose pen to market. Lilly announced that initial doses of Zepbound will be sold for $299 per month, with additional doses available for up to $449. Both are $50 off the current price for direct-to-patient sales.
The popularity of obesity drugs such as Zepbound and Wegovy has skyrocketed in recent years. This drug, known as a GLP-1 receptor agonist, works by targeting hormones in the gut and brain that affect appetite and satiety.
In clinical trials, they were able to reduce body weight by 15% to 22% (often up to 50 pounds or more). However, affordability is a persistent challenge for patients.
A recent poll by the nonprofit organization KFF found that about half of people seeking treatment say they can’t afford it.
Lily and Novo announced a price reduction Earlier this year, the cost of high-dose therapy dropped to about $500 per month.
Stacey Dusetsyna, a professor at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and an expert on prescription drug pricing, said previous research shows that people have difficulty paying when a drug costs more than $100 a month.
She said Novo’s new price “doesn’t represent a huge change for people who don’t have a fairly reasonable amount of disposable income.”
Dr. Laura Davison said the drug remains unaffordable for patients on Medicaid in states where federal funding programs for low-income people do not cover the drug.
Davison, an obesity expert at West Virginia University, said the bigger issue is expanding treatment coverage.
“Hundreds of people have lost insurance over the last few years, and we’re seeing more and more insurance companies drop coverage,” she said, adding that her clinic has started a group support program to help people who have lost insurance.
Under a deal announced by the Trump administration, compensation for at least one high-payer company will improve starting next year. The federally funded Medicare program, aimed primarily at people 65 and older, will begin covering treatment for people who are severely obese or who are overweight or obese and have serious health problems.
Those who qualify will pay a $50 co-pay for the drug.
Administration officials also said drug price reductions negotiated for Medicare would also be provided to the Medicaid program.
This will help expand coverage, said Dave Moore, Novo’s executive vice president of U.S. operations. He said 20 states’ Medicaid programs cover obesity drugs.
Novo officials expect that expansion of Medicaid and Medicare coverage will make the company’s medicines available to about 40 million more Americans.
Neither Mr. Moore nor Eli Lilly representatives would say whether additional price cuts are planned. The companies are also seeking approval for a pill version of the drug that would come with a new price.
Lilly spokeswoman Courtney Cassinger said the company believes obesity treatment should be covered like other chronic conditions.
“We will continue to work to improve our coverage as much as possible across all channels and all stakeholders,” she said.
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