Wegovy goes viral: Novo launches US$149 monthly weight-loss tablet

A pill offers more flexibility and an alternative for those who dislike needles used in injectable medication. (AP Photo/JoNel Aleccia, File)

COPENHAGEN/LONDON — Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk is launching its once-daily Wegovy pill in the United States on Monday, offering 1.5 milligram (mg) and four mg doses at US$149 per month for self-paying patients in an intensely competitive weight-loss drug market.

The pill was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration last month, a boon to Novo Nordisk as it looks to regain ground lost to U.S. rival Eli Lilly awaits U.S. approval for its weight-loss pill, possibly by March.

The Wegovy pill could attract new consumers as Novo looks to revive its fortunes after profit warnings and sliding shares last year. The pill offers more flexibility and an alternative for those who dislike needles used in injectable medication.

Shares of the Danish drugmaker rose over two per cent in late morning trading. Lilly shares fell about one per cent in U.S. premarket trading.

Luring cash customers key to pill’s success

A key part to success for the pill will be attracting cash-paying consumers who cannot get insurance coverage, a stark shift from the dominant business model where drug pricing is managed through health insurance plans.

The low 1.5 mg dose is the starter dose for the Wegovy pill, which is made up of semaglutide, the same active ingredient found in its blockbuster injectable weight loss and diabetes treatments, marketed under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic.

Novo also offers the 1.5 mg starter dose for its oral semaglutide drug for type 2 diabetes, sold as Rybelsus.

Novo’s pill will also be sold in 9 mg and a higher long-term dose of 25 mg. The drugmaker’s website showed that the two higher doses will be priced at $299 for a month’s supply, while the four mg dose will rise to $199 from April 15.

Lilly plans to cap higher doses of its obesity pill, if approved, at $399 a month for repeat cash buyers. Lilly’s injectable drug Zepbound has largely been ahead of Novo’s Wegovy in weekly U.S. prescriptions over the past year.

Trump looks to lower obesity drug prices

U.S. list prices for the injectables are about $1,000 per month or more. Both companies have reduced prices of their injectables for customers paying in cash rather than using health insurance.

Novo began selling its Wegovy injection at $349 a month to cash payers in November.

Under a deal with U.S. President Donald Trump, Novo and Lilly also agreed to offer starter doses of their weight-loss pills at $149 per month for Medicare and Medicaid enrollees, and to cash payers via the White House’s new direct-to-consumer TrumpRx site, which is expected to be launched this month.

Novo’s injectable drugs, which belong to a class of treatments known as GLP-1s, have seen unprecedented demand in recent years, which led to supply constraints in 2024.

Ahead of the pill launch, Novo said it was manufacturing the pill in North Carolina and has been building supplies for some time.

(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen in Copenhagen, Bhanvi Satija and Maggie Fick in London, writing by Anna Ringstrom; Editing by Terje Solsvik, Adam Jourdan and Bernadette Baum)