The logo of pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk is displayed in front of its offices in Bagsvaerd, outside Copenhagen, on November 24, 2025.
Little Tom | Reuters
Nordisk will begin launching the first GLP-1 weight-loss pill in the U.S. on Monday, the company announced, marking a new chapter in obesity treatment in the U.S.
Cash prices for the drug are among the lowest on the market, ranging from $149 to $299 per month, depending on dosage. That's fueling hopes that the pills could help overcome longstanding affordability hurdles related to the weekly injections that dominate the weight-loss drug market.
The official launch of the oral drug, called the Wegovy pill, comes just two weeks after US regulators approved the treatment.
The 1.5 milligram starting dose is available at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies, including CVS and costcoas well as select telehealth providers, including Ro, LifeMD, weight watchersGoodRx and NovoCare Pharmacy from Novo Nordisk. The remaining higher doses of the pill will be available to patients at the end of the week, Novo Nordisk said.
Cash-paying patients can pay $149 per month for the initial dose. The 4-milligram dose of the pill will also be available for $149 per month until April 15, and then for $199 per month thereafter.
Higher doses of the Wegovy pill (9 milligrams and 25 milligrams) will be available for $299 per month. Patients with insurance coverage for the drug can pay as little as $25 a month for the treatment.
Cash-paying patients will also be able to access the initial dose of the pill for $149 a month on President Donald Trump's direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, under a deal Novo Nordisk struck with his administration in November. The site also launches in January, although it's unclear when.
Novo Nordisk said Monday that the pill's availability “opens up new possibilities” for the more than 100 million Americans living with obesity.
Novo Nordisk injections and its main rival, Eli LillyThey have a list price of approximately $1,000 per month. But both companies offer lower cash prices for their injections ranging from $299 to $499 monthly, depending on the dosage.
Pills are the next battleground for the two companies, which have established the burgeoning GLP-1 space that some analysts say could be worth about $100 billion by the 2030s. Analysts at Goldman Sachs said in August that oral drugs could capture a 24% share (or about $22 billion) of the global weight-loss drug market in 2030.
The launch of Novo Nordisk's daily oral medication on Monday gives the company a clear advantage. The Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment on Dec. 22 and will decide whether to authorize a rival pill from Eli Lilly later this year.
The FDA also approved Novo Nordisk's pill to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as death, heart attack, or stroke, in adults with obesity and established cardiovascular disease.
This is consistent with the approval label for the company's hit weight-loss drug Wegovy, which shares the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Both work by mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1 to suppress appetite.
“This moment is about changing what is possible in weight management, and to make that possible, we have worked to ensure [the Wegovy pill] is affordable and accessible to those who need it, regardless of how they choose to receive their care,” Ed Cinca, senior vice president of marketing and patient solutions at Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.
People taking the Novo Nordisk pill have to wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking each day.
In a phase three trial that followed more than 300 adults with obesity and no diabetes, the highest dose of Novo Nordisk's oral semaglutide helped patients lose up to 16.6% of their weight on average after 64 weeks. That weight loss was 13.6% when the company analyzed all patients regardless of whether they stopped the drug.
The pill appears to be slightly more effective than Eli Lilly's experimental oral medication, which has no dietary restrictions.
