Wegovy’s Weight-Loss Pill Is Now Available—Here’s How Much It Costs
Goodbye, weekly jabs. The highly anticipated GLP-1 pills are officially here.
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Popular weight-loss drug Wegovy is now available in pill form in the United States. Novo Nordisk, the Danish drugmaker behind Wegovy and the GLP-1 drug Ozempic, announced on Monday that the starting dose of its game-changing medication can be obtained at over 70,000 pharmacies.
Although patients can get the prescription-only pills today, only the lowest dose, 1.5 mg, is available. Higher doses of the GLP-1 agonist are expected to become available by the end of the week.
GLP-1 agonists (including Wegovy, Ozempic, and Mounjaro) are a class of medication used to treat obesity and type 2 diabetes. Another semaglutide medication, Rybelsus, is already available in pill form. Unlike Wegovy, however, Rybelsus is not FDA-approved for weight loss, making Novo Nordisk’s pill the first medication of its kind for patients seeking to lose weight.
The most important question for many existing and prospective GLP-1 patients: How much does the Wegovy pill cost?
The price of the Wegovy pill depends on the dose. For people paying out of pocket, a starting dose of 1.5 mg costs $5 a day or $149 a month—a steep difference from the hefty $349-a-month price tag that typically accompanies the injections for self-pay patients.
The 4 mg pill will be available for the same monthly price, $149, until April 15, after which the price will increase to $199 per month. The higher-dose pills, 9 mg and 25 mg, are closer in price to Wegovy injections and will each cost $299 for patients paying cash.
For patients with insurance, the monthly price sinks even lower, starting at just $25.
The injectable form of Wegovy typically costs around $350 per month. The pill format costs significantly less, particularly for patients with insurance.
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The Wegovy pill comes with many of the same downsides as the injections. Semaglutide is the active ingredient in both formats, so experts anticipate the efficacy and side effects to be similar. Common side effects reported by patients include nausea, stomach pain, vomiting, constipation, and diarrhea, among others.
Each format’s ease of use depends on a patient’s individual needs. For some, a pill may be simpler to incorporate into a consistent routine than a weekly injection. However, for those who struggle to adhere to daily medication schedules, the pill form may be more challenging. It also needs to be taken daily on an empty stomach and requires a 30-minute wait before eating.
The Wegovy injection has been so popular since its launch in 2021 that the manufacturer has often been short on supply. It is too early to conclude whether the pill’s availability will reduce shortages or, if it causes increased demand, worsen them. But for patients who are afraid of needles or cannot afford the cost of Wegovy injections, their introduction into the market is welcome news.
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In December, a Reuters report revealed that the FDA was fast-tracking a GLP-1 pill from Eli Lilly, the drugmaker behind Mounjaro, leading to speculation that it would become the first semaglutide pill approved for weight loss available to U.S. consumers. Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy pill appears to have quietly pulled ahead of the pack, but Eli Lilly’s pill is likely close behind and could be approved as early as March.