Topline
Novo Nordisk has launched a multi-month subscription program meant to lower the price of the weight loss drug for patients who subscribe to three-, six- or 12-month programs for either the pill or injectable version of the medication.
Wegovy brand injections.
dpa/picture alliance via Getty Images
Key Facts
The subscription program became available Monday to patients who are prescribed Wegovy through third-party telehealth providers like Ro, WeightWatchers, LifeMC, with Hims & Hers and Sesame, with Novo Nordisk promising other providers will be able to offer the subscription program soon.
The program is for self-pay patients and is expected to save injection users up to $1,200 per year and pill users up to $600 per year, the company said, with lower prices for people who sign up for longer subscriptions.
The cheapest program under the plan will provide the Wegovy injection or pill at a variety of doses for $249 per month.
Novo Nordisk stock was up about 1.5% in premarket on the news.
Get Forbes Breaking News Text Alerts: We’re launching text message alerts so you’ll always know the biggest stories shaping the day’s headlines. Text “Alerts” to (201) 335-0739 or sign up here: joinsubtext.com/forbes.
Key Background
GLP-1s have been proven effective for weight loss and managing obesity, a leading cause of death in the U.S., but people often struggle to stay on the medication because of high costs, difficulty accessing the drugs and challenging side effects. Only 32% of people who start drugs like Wegovy and Ozempic (pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly’s GLP-1) are still taking it one year later, a Prime Therapeutics analysis found. At the time of the report, self-pay patients were paying up to $1,000 per month for GLP-1 drugs and, in some cases, shortages have limited access to the medications. Novo Nordisk said the new subscription program is “designed to reduce cost uncertainty and help people start and stay on” Wegovy.
What To Watch For
A competitor. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill is currently the only oral GLP-1 pill approved by the FDA for weight management, but Eli Lilly is expected to release its own—called orforglipron—later this year. FDA approval could come as soon as June.
Big Number
Between $149 and $399. That’s how much Eli Lily’s weight loss pill is expected to cost for self-pay patients when it hits the market.
Further Reading
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/maryroeloffs/2026/03/31/wegovy-subscription-launched-will-save-users-up-to-1200-per-year-novo-nordisk-says/
