Novo Nordisk to cut GLP-1 prices in tough US market
Novo Nordisk has turned to pricing as a means to shore up its position in the increasingly competitive market for GLP-1 agonist therapies in the US, promising to slash the monthly cost of its semaglutide-based Wegovy weight-loss therapy and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes.
From the start of next year, the wholesale price of Wegovy will be cut 50%, while Ozempic will be reduced by 35%, meaning their starting prices will fall to $675 per month.
The new list price for Wegovy will be applied to both the weekly injectable and new oral formulations of the drug. In addition, Novo Nordisk's oral formulation of semaglutide for T2D, sold as Rybelsus, will also have its price reduced by approximately a third to $675.
In a statement, the Danish company said the move would help to address "access barriers" to the medicines and "make it easier and more affordable for people in the US to get authentic, FDA-approved Wegovy and Ozempic in the way that best fits their lives."
There's little doubt that one of the reasons for the move will be to try to keep pace with arch-rival Eli Lilly in the market for incretin-based therapies for obesity and T2D, particularly the strong growth of Lilly's dual GIP/GLP-1 agonist tirzepatide, whose growth rate is outstripping Novo Nordisk's products.
Tirzepatide is sold as Mounjaro for T2D and Zepbound for obesity in the US, and the two brands grew 110% and 123% to $7.41 billion and $4.26 billion, respectively, in the last quarter of 2025, year-on-year. For comparison, in the same period, Ozempic sales were up 1% to around $5 billion, and Wegovy grew 17% to $3.44 billion – but both shrank by around 2% in the US market.
At the moment, the list price for Zepbound is approximately $1,000 per month, while Mounjaro runs at around $1,100.
Novo Nordisk said its price cuts do not affect direct-to-consumer, self-pay prices for the three products, which have already been reduced dramatically in the US through channels such as the recently launched TrumpRx platform. Lilly has also slashed its DTC prices for its tirzepatide medicines.
Meanwhile, semaglutide was among the medicines selected for Medicare pricing negotiations, with a 71% reduction in the price of the drug supplied to Medicare – from $959 to $274 – due to come into force at the start of 2027.
Novo Nordisk's head of US operations, James Millar, said the list price reductions are "the best approach to address the unprecedented opportunity to help more than 100 million people living with obesity and over 35 million people with type 2 diabetes in the US."
He went on to say that "private and public payers, as well as patients, want access and have been calling for lower list prices." It is estimated that around one in eight people in the US were taking incretin medicines for weight loss in 2025, according to KFF Health.
The move also ties in with efforts by the broader pharma industry to move away from the unpopular system of high list prices for medicines that are then subject to opaque rebates and reductions by supply chain middlemen like pharmacy benefit managers.
Photo by Tamanna Rumee on Unsplash
