The Novo Nordisk weight loss drug has seen a meteoric increase in popularity.
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Novo Nordisk On Wednesday, he said that he will offer his medication to lose weight WOGOVY for less than half of its usual price per month through a new pharmacy online to the consumer.
Cash payment The offer is available for millions of patients without insurance coverage for great success. Its objective is to make more people available to more people, while ensuring that patients use brand medication instead of cheaper compound imitators that exploited in popularity during a recently resolved American shortage of Novo Nordisk's drug.
The pharmacy, called Novocare, will allow patients to pay $ 499 in cash per month for the weekly medicine. The Wegovy list price before insurance and other reimbursements is almost $ 1,350 per month.
The site can also send tired recipes directly to patients' homes through a specialized pharmacy partner. Novocare will also offer recharge reminders and access to live support from a case administrator in the company, among other patient support services.
“Both patients and prescribers have another option that provides convenient access to all WOGOVY doses approved by the FDA at a reduced cost in our high quality pen,” said Dave Moore, executive vice president of US operations and global business development, in a statement.
In particular, the company said in the “near future” that it will extend the new offer of savings for patients who pay in cash who use traditional retail pharmacies so that they can also pay a lower price.
The Danish drug manufacturer movement follows a similar strategy of its main rival Eli Lilly. The two companies are struggling to dominate the market of so-called GLP-1, which mimic intestinal hormones to suppress appetite and regulate blood sugar.
Eli Lilly in January 2024 launched its own pharmacy in direct line to the consumer, Lillydirect, to help patients access their weight loss medication.
The website allows eligible patients to obtain a recipe through a Telesalud provider and can provide home delivery. More recently, Lillydirect also began offering Zepbound in unique dose roads that are half or even less than its usual monthly list price of $ 1,000.
In recent months, the Food and Drug Administration has declared the American shortage of Zepbound and Wogovy. This decision will prevent certain composite pharmacies from creating not approved versions of injections.
Novocare helps patients “avoid the significant risks that the composite market may raise, as noted by respected organizations, experts in the medical community and the FDA,” said Novo Nordisk in a statement.