Novo Nordisk Halves Ozempic Price to $499 per Month, Shares Jump 5%

Patients can now obtain Ozempic for $499 per month — roughly half of its U.S. list price — through Novo Nordisk’s cash-pay pharmacy, NovoCare, the company said in a statement on Monday. Home delivery is also available. Novo is additionally partnering with GoodRx Holdings Inc. to provide Ozempic and its sister weight-loss drug Wegovy at the same discounted price across U.S. pharmacies.

On Monday, Wegovy received U.S. Food and Drug Administration approval to treat a serious form of liver disease.

Following the announcement, Novo Nordisk shares rose nearly 5%, while GoodRx stock surged close to 40%.

Ozempic is already widely covered by insurance plans for diabetes treatment, so most patients rarely pay the full price. Still, Novo said the new program expands access for uninsured patients, allowing them to obtain a more affordable version of the medicine. Dave Moore, head of Novo Nordisk’s U.S. operations, stated: “Even if a single patient feels forced to turn to unsafe, unapproved substitutes because they cannot afford genuine treatment, we must prevent that.”

Novo emphasized that the new offer is part of its ongoing efforts to explore collaborations and new approaches to broaden access to authentic semaglutide medicines.

Previously, Ozempic cost about $1,000 per month for uninsured patients in the U.S. President Donald Trump had long pressured drugmakers such as Novo Nordisk to cut prices. However, the company said the decision to halve the price was commercially driven, not political.

Looking ahead, investors expect major pharmaceutical rivals Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to launch oral weight-loss drugs in the U.S. this year or next. Pricing will likely align with current injectables such as Zepbound and Wegovy. Oral GLP-1s are expected to fill an unmet demand for patients reluctant to use injections, though their weight-loss efficacy is lower than injectables and they are unlikely to fully replace them.