Novo Nordisk to cut US list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic by up to 50%

Nordisk On Tuesday it said it plans to reduce the monthly list prices of its popular obesity and diabetes drugs in the U.S. by up to 50% starting in 2027, in a bid to make the treatments more accessible to patients with insurance coverage.

The obesity injection Wegovy, its new counterpart pill, the diabetes vaccine Ozempic and the oral diabetes drug Rybelsus will have a new lower list price of $675 per month starting January 1, 2027. Wegovy medications currently have list prices of around $1,350 per month, while diabetes medications have list prices of around $1,027 per month.

For the first time, Novo said its price cuts are targeting insured patients whose out-of-pocket costs are tied to list prices, such as people with high-deductible health plans or coinsurance benefit designs.

“Both patient populations should, starting [in 2027]they see a benefit with lower out-of-pocket charges,” Jamey Millar, the company's head of operations in the United States, told CNBC in an interview.

He added that Novo expects improvements in access and acceptance among patients in the commercial insurance market, although the company does not offer specific expectations.

The move could help Novo better compete with Eli Lillywhich now owns the majority share in the successful GLP-1 market. Lilly's more effective drugs and its previous foray into the direct-to-consumer space have allowed it to take the lead in the space, but the company has yet to significantly reduce the list prices of its drugs in the United States.

It's unclear exactly how much patients with commercial insurance pay out of pocket for Novo's drugs. Those patients can pay as little as $25 a month for Novo's drugs “in only the best of circumstances,” Millar said.

But patients with high-deductible plans would have to pay out-of-pocket “more or less the full list price of a drug until they reach that” threshold and the insurance benefit takes effect, he added. Millar said some of those patients put off treatment altogether because they don't want to take on the expense. The number of patients using high-deductible plans has increased over the years due to the offset of lower premiums, he noted.

Meanwhile, Millar said other people have between 25% and 33% of their coinsurance tied to the list prices of those drugs.

The Danish drugmaker has already reduced direct-to-consumer prices for Wegovy and Ozempic, which primarily benefit cash-paying patients who often lack insurance coverage for the drugs.

Novo offers its medications to cash-paying patients for $149 to $499 per month, depending on the specific product and dosage. Novo and Lilly have escalated an LPG-1 price war over the past year, especially after the historic “most favored nation” agreements they reached with President Donald Trump in November.

The move also coincides with new lower Medicare prices for De Novo obesity and diabetes drugs going into effect in 2027, following negotiations with the federal government under the Inflation Reduction Act. The new negotiated prices for Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelsus will be $274 per month.