Novo Nordisk Forges Multiple Partnerships To Sell Wegovy At A Discount

Forbes

01-05-2025

The pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to regain market share ... More that it has lost to Eli Lilly in the lucrative obesity drug market. One of its weight loss products, Wegovy (semaglutide), is an injectable prescription medicine. It should be used with a weight loss plan and (increased) physical activity. (Photo by: Michael Siluk/UCG/Universal Images Group via Getty Images)
The pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk is pursuing a multi-pronged strategy to regain market share that it has lost to Eli Lilly in the lucrative obesity drug market. On Thursday, Novo Nordisk announced a new partnership with the conglomerate, CVS Health Corporation, which gives the weight loss drug Wegovy a preferred coverage status over its competitor Zepbound for customers who are insured for obesity medications. And at the same time, Novo Nordisk struck a deal in which CVS pharmacy will offer Wegovy at a discount for cash-paying customers who aren't insured for the medication. This move follows another collaboration forged between Novo Nordisk and the telehealth company Hims & Hers Health to offer discounted Wegovy. Additionally, the drug maker sells weight loss products to customers via its NovoCare Pharmacy program for a reduced price.
Glucagon-like peptide-1 medications such as semaglutide (Ozempic, Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro, Zepbound) were in shortage starting in 2022. The Food and Drug Administration declared the shortages over for tirzepatide and semaglutide this past winter. But between 2022 and this year, compounded versions of these medications had sometimes become a more accessible and affordable option for patients. Compounded products containing the same active ingredients fill a void if and when the branded medications are in scarce supply.
Telehealth platforms, such as Hims & Hers, connect patients seeking treatments, which include compounded medications, to licensed healthcare providers, who perform virtual evaluations and prescribe medications if they deem them appropriate. Hims & Hers and other similar companies could offer patients compounded GLP-1s for far less money than the branded products. This posed a particular challenge to Novo Nordisk's sales of its weight loss therapeutics, as did competition from Eli Lilly's Zepbound, a GIP and GLP-1 receptor, which performed better than Wegovy in terms of its ability to lower weight.
Now that the shortages are resolved, compounded GLP-1s are mostly being phased out, though the practice of compounding can still help in unusual circumstances in which custom-tailoring is indicated.
For the most patients, it's out with compounded GLP-1s for weight loss and in with discounted branded drugs. In the wake of the removal of semaglutide and tirzepatide from the FDA's shortage list, the business model of selling directly to the consumer has become popular for the two main manufacturers of obesity drugs. Here, the patient often pays a discounted amount for the branded medicine.
In 2024, Eli Lilly adopted a direct-to-consumer strategy for Zepbound, among other products, with its LillyDirect service. This service includes a DTC pharmacy and a referral network of in-person and telehealth clinicians. And LillyDirect allows uninsured or under-insured individuals not on Medicaid or Medicare to purchase Zepbound product directly after obtaining the requisite prescription from their doctor. The firm recently extended the range of Zepbound products available through LillyDirect with the addition of high-dose vials at $499.
Rival Novo Nordisk also launched a DTC option, NovoCare Pharmacy, two months ago. Patients not insured in the public sector who wish to have access to Wegovy can acquire the drug for an out-of-pocket cost of $499 per month, provided they have a prescription and make use of the designated specialty pharmacy. This is the same amount customers pay when they access Wegovy from Hims & Hers. And now, following the agreement with CVS, cash-paying customers without weight loss drug coverage will be able to buy Wegovy for $499 per month at the pharmacy.
In addition, for insured patients, CVS Caremark, the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager, said that starting in July, the weight loss treatments Wegovy and Saxenda (liraglutide) will be the preferred GLP-1 medicines on its largest commercial formularies. It's unknown precisely what this implies in terms of out-of-pocket costs for patients. But generally patients with coverage for obesity drugs have monthly cost-sharing under $100. Notably, Zepbound will no longer be preferred and may even be excluded on certain formularies.