First GLP-1 pill for obesity from Novo Nordisk launches in the U.S.

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

Cash prices for the drug are among the lowest on the market, ranging from $149 to $299 per month, depending on the dose. This raises hope that the pills could help overcome long-standing affordability barriers tied to weekly injections that dominate the weight-loss drug market.

Official launch of the oral drug Wegovy pillIt comes just two weeks after US regulators cleared the treatment.

The starting dose of 1.5 milligrams is available at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies. CVS And costcoRo, as well as select telehealth providers including LifeMD Weight WatchersGoodRx and Novo Nordisk’s NovoCare Pharmacy. Novo Nordisk said the remaining higher doses of the pill will be available to patients by the end of the week.

Cash-paying patients can pay $149 per month for an initial dose. The 4-milligram dose of the pill will be available for $149 per month until April 15, and $199 per month thereafter.

The highest doses of the Wegovy pill (9 milligrams and 25 milligrams) will be available for $299 per month. Patients covered by insurance for the drug can pay as little as $25 per month for treatment.

Patients who pay cash will have access to an initial dose of the pill for $149 a month through President Donald Trump’s direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, under a deal Novo Nordisk struck with its management in November. The site is also launching in January, but it’s unclear when that will be.

On Monday, Novo Nordisk said the pill’s availability “opens new possibilities” for the more than 100 million Americans living with obesity.

Injections from Novo Nordisk and its chief rival Eli LillyIt carries a list price of around $1,000 per month. But both companies offer lower cashback prices for their shots, ranging from $299 to $499 per month, depending on the dose.

Pills will be the next battleground for the two companies building the fast-growing field of GLP-1, which some analysts say could be worth nearly $100 billion by the 2030s. Goldman Sachs analysts said in August that oral medications could take up 24% (or about $22 billion) of the 2030 global weight-loss drug market.

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

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

This is consistent with the approval label for the company’s blockbuster weight-loss drug Wegovy, which shares the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Both work by mimicking the gut hormone GLP-1 to suppress appetite.

“This moment is about changing what is possible in weight management, and we have worked to make that possible. [the Wegovy pill] It is affordable and accessible to people who need it, however they choose to receive their care,” Ed Cinca, Novo Nordisk’s senior vice president of marketing and patient solutions, said in a statement.

People taking the Novo Nordisk pill must wait 30 minutes before eating or drinking each day.

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

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