Novo Nordisk Extends Slide After Announcing Price-Cuts For Blockbuster Obesity Drugs

Novo Nordisk shares in Copenhagen can’t catch a bid. The liquidation is accelerating again after a Bloomberg headline on Tuesday morning: the Danish drugmaker will slash U.S. list prices for Wegovy and Ozempic next year. The move suggests that the new CEO is pursuing market share amid intensifying competition in the GLP-1 space.

Jamey Millar, Novo’s head of U.S. operations, was quoted by Bloomberg as saying the company set a monthly price of $675 for its family of semaglutide drugs, a reduction of up to 50%. The new pricing regime is set to take effect on Jan. 1, 2027.

Millar said Novo had to announce the new cuts now to allow time to adjust ahead of next year’s rollout.

Meanwhile, Zepbound, Eli Lilly’s competing obesity drug, currently has a list price of around $1,086.

Bloomberg pointed out: “The price drop will apply to the wholesale acquisition cost, a published price that doesn’t reflect the complex system of rebates in the US market. On commercial insurance, both Zepbound and Wegovy can cost patients as little as $25 a month.”

“I’m confident that payers will accept and welcome these lower list prices, as they’ve been calling for them publicly,” Millar said.

While the cuts won’t affect the self-pay prices already offered in the U.S., they could lower out-of-pocket costs for insured patients whose plans require them to cover a larger share of the drug’s cost.

Shares of Novo in Copenhagen are down a little more than 3% and continue to slide, especially after yesterday’s “worst-case scenario” for its next-generation obesity shot, CagriSema, which delivered only 20.2% weight loss over 84 weeks versus 23.6% for Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide (Zepbound).

Novo shares near 2021 lows.

Read more here: “Worst-Case Scenario”: Novo Nordisk Plunges After Next-Gen Obesity Drug Falls Short Of Lilly Rival