Novo Nordisk Lowers Wegovy Price for Cash-Paying Patients

Following in Eli Lilly’s footsteps, Novo Nordisk has lowered the cost of Wegovy (semaglutide) and launched NovoCarePharmacy, a direct-to-patient option. The new, lower price is $499 per month with home delivery, which is available for all strengths of Wegovy, including 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg, 1 mg, 1.7 mg, and 2.4 mg of the once-weekly, single-dose pen.

The lower price is being offered to support cash-paying patients without insurance coverage, Novo Nordisk said in a news release. Previously, Novo Nordisk offered a $650 per month direct-ship option for cash-paying patients.

Wegovy was approved to treat obesity in June 2021. Its list price is $1,349, and the company said that 90% of patients have a co-pay of $0 to $25 per month.

Dave Moore

“With NovoCare Pharmacy, patients and prescribers alike have another option that provides convenient access to all doses of real, FDA-approved Wegovy at a reduced cost in our high-quality pen,” Dave Moore, executive vice president, U.S. Operations and Global Business Development and president of Novo Nordisk, said in the news release.

In the near future, the company said, the program will be updated so that cash-paying patients who use traditional retail pharmacies will have access to the $499 price.

Related: Lilly Lowers Prices of Some Zepbound Doses for Self-Pay Patients

Last month, Lilly lowered the prices of several doses of Zepbound (tirzepatide) patients purchasing the obesity medication through the self-pay program. Through the Zepbound Self-Pay Journey Program, patients with obesity now have additional options to purchase the vial presentations of Zepbound, including 2.5 mg, 5 mg, 7.5 mg and 10 mg doses.

Unlike the Novo Nordisk program, Lilly only provides reductions on prices on some doses of Zepbound vials but not the autoinjector pens.

In 2024, sales of Wegovy and Novo Nordisk’s other semaglutide products (Ozempic and Rybelsus, which both treat type 2 diabetes) increased 27% to $39.4 billion. Sales of Wegovy alone grew 57% to $9.4 billion.

The three semaglutide drugs are at the top of CMS's next 15 Medicare Part D drugs to be subject to price negotiations as part of the Inflation Reduction Act. Negotiations with participating drug companies begin this year, and the new prices will become effective in 2027. The three semaglutide products had total Part D gross costs of $14.4 billion from November 2023 to October 2024, according to CMS.

In January 2025, the FDA approved Ozempic to reduce the risk of kidney disease worsening, kidney failure, and death due to cardiovascular disease in adults with type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease.

Additionally, two separate phase 3 trials show that semaglutide improved fatty liver disease and reduced hospitalizations related to cardiovascular risk in obese patients. Novo Nordisk expects to file for regulatory approvals in the United States and European Union in the first half of 2025 for these indications.