By Sneha S K
(Reuters) -Novo Nordisk said on Monday it was offering its diabetes drug Ozempic for $499 per month to eligible cash-paying patients with type 2 diabetes in the U.S. via its own pharmacy, a tie-up with telehealth service GoodRx and other platforms.
U.S.-listed shares of the Danish drugmaker were up 5.3%, while shares of GoodRx rose 34.2%.
Novo and rival Eli Lilly have expanded into direct-to-consumer sales for the highly effective and sought-after medicines, in part due to competition from
online telehealth companies and pharmacies that sell cheaper compounded versions.
Novo already sells Wegovy, the weight-loss version of Ozempic, through its NovoCare pharmacy for $499. The latest offer is aimed at patients who do not have insurance coverage.
Its shares were also trading higher after Wegovy secured U.S. FDA approval for the liver disease metabolic dysfunction-associated steatohepatitis, or MASH, on Friday.
GoodRx will sell Wegovy and Ozempic at $499 monthly to eligible self-paying patients.
A spokesperson for Novo said it expected Ozempic cash sales to account for about 10% of total prescriptions - the same level of market penetration the company has experienced with Wegovy.
Novo said earlier this month it expects continued competition from copycat versions and rising pressure from Lilly. List prices for each drug in the United States are about $1,000 per month or more, but insured patients pay far less.
Eli Lilly offers single-dose vials of its weight-loss drug Zepbound on its website, LillyDirect, for $499 per month or less, regardless of insurance status. Lilly does not sell its diabetes drug Mounjaro on LillyDirect.
Novo said the new offer for Ozempic was part of ongoing efforts to explore new collaborations and approaches towards improving access to authentic semaglutide medicines.
In April, it said it was working with telehealth firms Ro and LifeMD to sell Wegovy to expand access to cash-paying patients.
(Reporting by Sneha S K in Bengaluru; Editing by Pooja Desai)
