Trump, Eli Lilly, and Novo Nordisk unveil deals to reduce prices of obesity drugs

President Donald Trump on Thursday announced deals with… Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk To lower prices on some obesity drugs, including upcoming pills, in a historic effort to expand access to expensive blockbuster treatments.

The agreements will lower prices for so-called GLP-1 drugs for Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries in 2026 and will offer the treatments directly to consumers at a discount on a website the Trump administration will launch in January called TrumpRx.gov.

That means Medicare will begin covering obesity drugs for some patients for the first time starting in mid-2026, a long-awaited move that could expand the drug market and incentivize more private insurers to cover them. Some Medicare patients will pay a copayment of $50 per month for all approved uses of injectable and oral GLP-1 drugs, including treatment of diabetes and obesity.

Initial doses for the upcoming obesity pill from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, pending approvals, will be $145 per month. For everyone who gets it through Medicare, Medicaid or TrumpRx, a senior administration official who declined to be named told reporters during a news conference Thursday. Novo Nordisk’s oral version of obesity injection Wegovy could hit the market by the end of the year, while Eli Lilly’s Orforglipron pill could launch next year.

Initial doses of existing injections such as Novo’s Wegovy and Lilly’s Zepbound will be $350 per month on TrumpRX, but will drop to $245 per month over two years, another senior administration official said during the press conference.

Wegovy and Zepbound are not covered by Medicare for weight loss, “and are rarely covered by Medicaid,” Trump said. “It has often cost consumers more than $1,000 a month, some much more…and that ends as of today.”

The deals are among the most politically significant announcements yet as the Trump administration seeks to rein in high U.S. drug costs by tying them to the lowest prices abroad. As part of the president’s “most favored nation” policy, he has announced deals with… Pfizer, AstraZeneca and EMD Serono to sell certain medicines directly to patients at a discount, in exchange for exemptions from planned pharmaceutical tariffs.

“This is the biggest drug in our country, and that’s why it’s the most important of all drugs [most favored nation] “The announcements we’ve made. This will have the greatest impact on the American people,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during the news conference. “All Americans, even those who are not on Medicaid or Medicare, will be able to get the same price for their medications, for their GLP-1s.”

Kennedy claimed the American people would lose £125 million by this time next year, saying expanding access would have “significant human health impacts” in the US.

Current list prices for obesity medications—roughly $1,000 to $1,350 per month before insurance—present a significant barrier to patients, many of whom would benefit from their ability to promote weight loss and mitigate other related health complications such as cardiovascular risk and sleep apnea. Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk already have programs to sell weight-loss drugs at a direct discount to cash-paying consumers, but the new agreements appear to take those efforts to boost access one step further.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have agreed to reduce the price Medicare pays for the GLP-1s it already covers for diabetes and other indications, along with obesity drugs, to $245 per month. The companies agreed to extend lower government prices for GLP-1 drugs — $245 per month for all other non-prime doses — to all 50 Medicaid programs for all covered uses. Countries will have to subscribe to these prices, which means some may not.

But Medicare coverage could have a bigger impact on who gets the drugs because the program covers about 66 million people and is the main source of insurance for people 65 and older. The new obesity drug coverage will be enabled through a pilot program designed to cover the majority of beneficiaries under Medicare Part D, the program’s prescription drug plans.

About 10% of Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for GLP-1s for obesity treatment and cardiovascular and metabolic benefits, another senior administration official said. Eligible patients will be divided into three groups. The first includes people who are overweight, with a body mass index greater than 27 or who suffer from diabetes or cardiovascular disease.

The second group is people who suffer from obesity – with a body mass index greater than 30 – and uncontrolled high blood pressure, kidney disease or heart failure. The third group is obese patients, or anyone with a body mass index greater than 35.

GLP-1s are approved for weight loss for a broader population: people who are obese or who are overweight due to one related condition. “We are restricting access to patients who will benefit clinically,” the administration official said. “We have worked hard to strike a balance between broad access that ensures we only capture patients who will benefit clinically.”

As part of the deals, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk also made pledges similar to those made by other drugmakers as part of Trump’s most-favored-nation agreements. The companies will guarantee most-favored-nation pricing on all new drugs they bring to market, will provide that pricing to every Medicaid program in the state, will offer at least net U.S. pricing or most-favored-nation pricing for nearly all primary care drugs on TrumpRx, and will provide savings from foreign drug price increases on existing products, a senior administration official said.

Also on Thursday, Eli Lilly said it would cut prices by $50 on its direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, which already offers Zepbound at a discount to patients who pay with cash. The Zepbound Multi-Dose Pen will be available for $299 per month at the lowest dose, with additional doses priced at $449 per month.

Eli Lilly’s pills, once approved, will be available at a minimum dose starting at $149 per month.

In a statement Thursday, Eli Lilly CEO David Rex said the deal represents “a pivotal moment in American health care policy and a significant milestone for Lilly,” which is focused on “improving outcomes, strengthening the American health care system, and contributing to the health of our nation for generations to come.”

In a separate statement, Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Dustedar said, “Today’s announcement will make semaglutide medicines available to more American patients at a lower cost.” Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Wegovy and Ozempic.

This is not the first time the government has introduced Medicare coverage for obesity medications. Former President Joe Biden proposed a rule at the end of his term that would allow the program to cover those treatments, but the Trump administration in April refused to finalize the measure.

Biden’s proposal would have expanded access to nearly 3.4 million Medicare beneficiaries. But it was controversial at the time because it would cost taxpayers up to $35 billion over nine years, a congressional analysis found.

But some health experts argue that drug coverage could eliminate the downstream costs associated with treating obesity-related conditions.

Semaglutide is also included in the next round of Medicare drug price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act, which Biden signed into law in 2022. Trump is expected to unveil new prices for the 15 drugs selected for those talks by November 30.

Tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro diabetes shot, likely won’t be eligible for these negotiations until the end of the contract.