President Donald Trump on Thursday unveiled a deal with drugmakers Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to expand coverage and reduce prices for their popular obesity treatments Zepbound and Wegovy, along with insulin, migraine, and diabetes drugs.
What Does the Deal Entail?
A fact sheet released by the White House stated that the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy, which are made by Novo Nordisk and contain the GLP-1 agonist semaglutide as the active ingredient, will drop significantly.“The prices of Ozempic and Wegovy will fall from $1,000 and $1,350 per month, respectively, to $350 when purchased through TrumpRx,” the White House said.
Meanwhile, Eli Lilly’s Zepbound will drop from around $1,086 monthly to $346 per month when purchased through the TrumpRx service. The company’s Orforglipron, a pill form of the drug that has not yet been approved by Food and Drug Administration (FDA), will see the same price drop upon obtaining approval.
Medicare Patients Eligible Soon
Coverage of the obesity drugs will expand to Medicare patients starting next year, according to the Trump administration, which said some lower prices also will be phased in for patients without coverage.
Individual states will also have the capacity to increase access to either Zepbound and Orforglipron through the Medicaid program, it said.
According to the White House, the prices of Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro, and Zepbound will be $245 under Medicare, or less than half the prices that were proposed under the Biden administration.
The announcement Thursday comes amid the administration’s effort to respond to the rising costs of food, health care, and other necessities.
“Trump is the friend of the forgotten American,” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said during Thursday’s announcement. “Obesity is a disease of poverty. And overwhelmingly these drugs have only been available for people who have wealth.”
Major Pricing Change
Both drug manufacturers hailed the White House announcement.“As we expand access to obesity treatments for more Americans and advance one of the most innovative obesity pipelines, we remain focused on improving outcomes, strengthening the U.S. healthcare system, and contributing to the health of our nation for generations to come,” Ricks said.
Ricks said that in recent years, the U.S. health care system has developed in a manner that places too much pressure on American taxpayers and customers, who he said “proportionately pay a higher share of the costs for developing breakthrough medicines compared to other countries.”
“Lilly is in a unique position to work with the U.S. government to rebalance the global system, expand access and lower costs for Americans while also protecting our company’s ability to both innovate and enhance manufacturing capacity to meet the significant demand for our life-saving medicines,” he said.
Novo Nordisk’s CEO, Mike Doustdar, similarly praised the move and said that the deal “will bring semaglutide medicines to more American patients at a lower cost” and that it will allow Medicare recipients to gain access to “authentic Wegovy.”
Other Drugs to See Reduced Costs
Other than obesity drugs, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk medications used to treat migraines and diabetes, including their insulin products, will also see reduced pricing, according to the White House.Eli Lilly’s Emgality migraine treatment medication will be brought down to $299 per injection pen, and the company’s Trulicity diabetes drug will see a discount of $598 off the list price, it said.
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk indicated that it will provide its insulin products, including NovoLog and Tresiba, at $35 per month.
Thursday’s deal will also grant guarantees that Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk will provide lower prices on “all new medicines that they bring to market, repatriate increased foreign revenue on existing products, and provide every State Medicaid program in the country access” to the lower prices, the administration stated.
