Obesity drug prices are dropping, but getting a steady supply remains a
challenge
[July 07, 2025]
By TOM MURPHY
Prices are falling for the popular obesity treatments Wegovy and
Zepbound, but steady access to the drugs remains challenging.
The medications still amount to around $500 per month for those without
insurance — out of reach for many patients. And even for people with
insurance, coverage remains uneven.
“The medications should be available, the question is at what price and
can people sustain that,” said Matt Maciejewski, a Duke University
professor who studies obesity treatment coverage.
Doctors say the situation forces them to get creative in treating
patients, but there’s hope that prices may fall more in the future.
The drugs are still in high demand
Wegovy and Zepbound are part of a wave of obesity medications known as
GLP-1 receptor agonists that have soared in popularity.
Zepbound brought in $2.3 billion in U.S. sales during this year’s first
quarter, making it one of drugmaker Eli Lilly’s best sellers.
Novo Nordisk says Wegovy has about 200,000 weekly prescriptions in the
U.S., where it brought in nearly $1.9 billion in first-quarter sales.
Insurance coverage is increasing — for some
The benefits consultant Mercer says more businesses with 500 or more
employees are adding coverage of the injected drugs for their workers
and family members.
And Novo says 85% of its patients who have coverage in the U.S. pay $25
or less per month.
Plus some patients with diabetes can get coverage of the GLP-1 drugs
Ozempic and Mounjaro from Novo and Lilly that are approved to treat that
condition.
But most state and federally funded Medicaid programs don’t cover the
drugs for obesity and neither does Medicare, the federal program mainly
for people age 65 and older.
Even the plans that cover the drugs often pay only a portion of the
bill, exposing patients to hundreds of dollars in monthly costs, said
Dr. Beverly Tchang.
Drugmakers offer help with these out-of-pocket costs, but that
assistance can be limited.
“Coverage is not the same as access,” said Tchang, a New York-based
doctor who serves as a paid advisor to both Novo and Lilly.
But coverage remains inconsistent
Bill-payers like employers are nervous about drugs that might be used by
a lot of people indefinitely.
Some big employers have dropped coverage of the drugs due to the
expense. Pharmacy benefit managers, or PBMs, also are starting to pick
one brand over the other as they negotiate deals with the drugmakers.
One of the nation’s largest PBMs, run by CVS Health, dropped Zepbound
from its national formulary, or list of covered drugs, on July 1 in
favor of Wegovy.
That forced Tchang to figure out another treatment plan for several
patients, many of whom took Zepbound because it made them less nauseous.
Dr. Courtney Younglove’s office sends prospective patients a video link
showing them how to check their insurer’s website for coverage of the
drugs before they visit.
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Boxes for the medications Wegovy and Zepbound are arranged for a
photograph in California on Thursday, May 8, 2025. (AP Photo/JoNel
Aleccia, File)
 “Then some of them just cancel their
appointment because they don’t have coverage,” the Overland Park,
Kansas, doctor said.
Cheaper compounded drugs are still being sold
Compounding pharmacies and other entities were allowed to make
off-brand, cheaper copies of Wegovy and Zepbound when there was a
shortage of the drugs. But the U.S. Food and Drug Administration
determined earlier this year that the shortage had ended.
That should have ended the compounded versions, but there is an
exception: Some compounding is permitted when a drug is personalized
for the patient.
The health care company Hims & Hers Health offers compounded doses
of semaglutide, the drug behind Wegovy, that adjust dose levels to
help patients manage side effects. Hims says these plans start at
$165 a month for 12 months, with customers paying in full upfront.
It’s a contentious issue. Eli Lilly has sued pharmacies and
telehealth companies trying to stop them from selling compounded
versions of its products.
Novo recently ended a short-lived partnership with Hims to sell
Wegovy because the telehealth company continued compounding. Novo
says the compounded versions of its drug put patient safety at risk
because ingredients are made by foreign suppliers not monitored by
US regulators.
Hims says it checks all ingredients to make sure they meet U.S.
quality and safety standards. It also uses a third-party lab to
verify that a drug's strength is accurately labeled.
Prices have dropped
Both drugmakers are selling most of their doses for around $500 a
month to people without insurance, a few hundred dollars less than
some initial prices.
Even so, that expense would eat up about 14% of the average annual
per person income in the U.S., which is around $43,000.
There are some factors that may suppress prices over time. Both
companies are developing pill versions of their treatments. Those
could hit the market in the next year or so, which might drive down
prices for the older, injectable doses.
Younglove said some of her patients save as much as 15% by getting
their doses shipped from a pharmacy in Canada. They used to get them
from an Israeli pharmacy until the Canadians dropped their prices.
She says competition like this, plus the introduction of pill
versions, will pressure U.S. prices.
“I think price wars are going to drive it down,” she said. “I think
we are in the early stages. I have hope.”
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