Novo Nordisk offers Ozempic at $640 per month to eligible US cash-paying customers
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GoodRx will sell Wegovy and Ozempic at US$499 monthly to eligible self-paying patients.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BAGSVAERD - Novo Nordisk said on Aug 18 it was offering its diabetes drug Ozempic for US$499 (S$640.83) per month to eligible cash-paying patients with type 2 diabetes in the US via its own pharmacy, a tie-up with telehealth service GoodRx and other platforms.
US-listed shares of the Danish drugmaker were up 5.3 per cent, while shares of GoodRx rose 34.2 per cent.
Novo and rival Eli Lilly have expanded into direct-to-consumer sales for the highly effective and sought-after medicines, in part due to competition from online telehealth companies and pharmacies that sell cheaper compounded versions.
Novo already sells Wegovy, the weight-loss version of Ozempic,
Its shares were also trading higher after Wegovy secured US FDA approval for the liver disease metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, on Aug 15.
GoodRx will sell Wegovy and Ozempic at US$499 monthly to eligible self-paying patients.
A spokesperson for Novo said it expected Ozempic cash sales to account for about 10 per cent of total prescriptions - the same level of market penetration the company has experienced with Wegovy.
Novo said earlier in August it expects continued competition from copycat versions and rising pressure from Lilly. List prices for each drug in the United States are about US$1,000 per month or more, but insured patients pay far less.
Eli Lilly offers single-dose vials of its weight-loss drug Zepbound on its website, LillyDirect, for US$499 per month or less, regardless of insurance status. Lilly does not sell its diabetes drug Mounjaro on LillyDirect.
Novo said the new offer for Ozempic was part of ongoing efforts to explore new collaborations and approaches towards improving access to authentic semaglutide medicines.
In April, it said it was working with telehealth firms Ro and LifeMD to sell Wegovy to expand access to cash-paying patients. REUTERS
