Weight loss medication is offered to some patients for $499 a month

Novo Nordisk will lower the price of a smash hit weight loss drug for certain patients, who use their money to pay instead of insured, to $499 a month, the drug maker said Wednesday.

This movement could lead to more patients taking the drug. However, the decision is limited because it does not lower prices for patients who have health insurance through government programs and employers who suffer from the enormous costs of drugs like Wegovy, which revolutionized the treatment of obesity.

To qualify for a low price, patients must be uninsured or commercially insured on plans that do not cover drugs. Previously, drug manufacturers would provide coupons to such patients, allowing them to supply a month's drug supply for $650. Wednesday's move will save $150 a month for such patients.

The new product is unavailable to tens of millions of Americans who are insured through government programs like Medicare and Medicaid. This is a demographic that lacks most coverage for weight loss pill insurance like Wegovy. To get Novo Nordisk medication, these patients usually need to pay more than $1,300 a month from their pocket at the pharmacy.

Novo Nordisk offers discounted products through online pharmacies and sends prescriptions to patients via mail. This is a strategy that drug manufacturers are increasingly using to provide more control over product distribution. Novo Nordisk's competitor, Eli Lilly, is offering similar products to its weight loss drug, Vials Zepbound vials, for under $499 a month.

The price cut for Novo Nordisk is just weeks before the market for cheaper copycat versions of Wegovy is expected to be heavily contracted.

Over the past few years, patients seeking lower prices have been transformed into versions created through a drug-inducible mixing process known as composites, which are permitted by regulators when patented products are shortages.

Patients often pay around $150 a month from their pocket for the combined version of Wegovy. An estimated 2 million patients have taken the medication this way over the last year.

However, last month, the Food and Drug Administration declared a shortage in Wegovi and ordered Compartmers to abolish the operation by April or May. Novo Nordisk now has the opportunity to scoop displaced people who rely on formulations and increase sales of official versions of the drug.