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Novo Nordisk is halving the US list price of its most popular weight-loss drug as the Danish drugmaker struggles to compete with rival Eli Lilly in the obesity market.
Novo said on Tuesday that the wholesale US price of Wegovy would be cut by 50 per cent from January 2027. Its diabetes drug Ozempic will be reduced by 35 per cent. The new list price for each drug will be $675 a month and will apply to Wegovy injections and tablets.
The lower prices would increase the customer base, said Jamey Millar, executive vice-president of Novo’s US operations.
“The lower list price is intended to connect more people with our innovative medicines,” he said in a statement. The news was first reported in The Wall Street Journal.
Novo’s shares were down about 2 per cent on Tuesday.
The announcement underlines its struggle to compete with Eli Lilly. Novo’s shares fell on Monday after it published trial results showing lower average weight loss from its new obesity drug CagriSema than from Lilly equivalents.
Morgan Stanley analysts called the results “a worst-case scenario for Novo” and said CagriSema could struggle to compete with Lilly.
CagriSema has not yet been approved by US regulators, but a decision is expected by the end of the year.
The disappointing results were “likely to affect physician and patient perception of the drug, adding to launch headwinds”, Morningstar said on Monday.