Novo Nordisk’s first GLP-1 obesity pill is launched in the United States

Novo Nordisk The company announced that it will begin rolling out its first GLP-1 weight-loss pill in the United States on Monday, marking a new chapter in obesity treatment in the United States.

The drug’s cash prices are among the lowest on the market, ranging from $149 to $299 per month, depending on the dose. This fuels hopes that the pill could help address the long-standing affordability hurdles associated with the weekly injections that dominate the weight-loss drug market.

The official launch of the oral drug, called Wegovy pills, comes just two weeks after US regulatory agencies approved the treatment.

The initial dose of 1.5 milligrams is available in more than 70,000 US pharmacies, such as CVS and Costcoas well as telehealth providers, including Ro, LifeMD, Weight WatchersGoodRx and Novo Nordisk’s NovoCare Pharmacy. Novo Nordisk said the remaining higher doses of the pill would be available to patients by the end of the week.

Patients who pay cash can pay $149 per month for a starting dose. The 4-milligram dose of the pill will also be available for $149 per month until April 15, then $199 per month after that.

The highest doses of Wegovy pills — 9 milligrams and 25 milligrams — will be available for $299 per month. Patients with insurance coverage for the drug can pay up to $25 per month for the treatment.

Patients paying cash 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 will also launch in January, although it’s unclear when.

Novo Nordisk said Monday that the availability of the pills “opens up new possibilities” for more than 100 million Americans with obesity.

Injectors from Novo Nordisk and its main competitor, Eli Lillycarries a list price of around $1,000 per month. But both companies offer lower cash-out rates for their doses that range from $299 to $499 per month, depending on the dose.

Grains are the next battleground for the two companies, which have created a booming GLP-1 space that some analysts say could be worth about $100 billion by the 2030s. Oral drugs could capture a 24% share — or about $22 billion — of the global weight-loss drug market by 2030, Goldman Sachs analysts said in August.

Monday’s launch of Novo Nordisk’s daily oral drug gives the company a clear start. The Food and Drug Administration approved the treatment on December 22, and will decide whether to remove Eli Lilly’s competing pill later this year.

The FDA also approved Novo Nordisk pills to reduce the risk of major cardiovascular events, such as death, heart attack or stroke, in adults with obesity and cardiovascular disease.

This matches the approval mark for the company’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, which shares the same active ingredient, semaglutide. They 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 that [the Wegovy pill] “It is affordable and available to those who need it, yet choose to receive their care,” Ed Senka, senior vice president of marketing and patient solutions at Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.

People taking Novo Nordisk pills should wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking each day.

In a phase 3 trial that followed more than 300 adults with obesity, Novo Nordisk’s highest dose of oral semaglutide helped patients lose up to 16.6% of their weight on average after 64 weeks. The weight loss rate was 13.6% when the company analyzed all patients, regardless of whether they had stopped taking the drug.

The pill appears to be slightly more effective than Eli Lilly’s experimental oral drug, which has no dietary restrictions.