The cost of weight loss drugs is finally dropping. How low can prices go?

The price of weight loss drugs is falling.
Wegovy and Zepbound, which both sell for a list price of more than $1,000 a month, have long been out of reach for people without insurance or whose insurance refused to cover them. Among adults who take the medications, about half say it's difficult to afford the cost, according to a May 2024 survey by the health policy group KFF.
Over the past several months, however, drugmakers Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have introduced lower-cost options. There are some caveats — people must pay out of pocket, or the medication is sold in a vial rather than a prefilled injector pen — but doctors and patients say the changes are long overdue.
'The cost has come down significantly,' said Dr. Peminda Cabandugama, an endocrinologist at the Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.
In March, Novo Nordisk cut the price of all doses of Wegovy by 23% for people paying in cash, dropping it from $650 to $499 per month for uninsured patients or those without coverage. (The list price of $1,349 stayed the same.)
It follows a similar move from Eli Lilly, which reduced Zepbound's starter dose to $349 and higher doses to $499 through its self-pay program, Lilly Direct. The discounted doses require patients to manually draw the medication from a vial with a syringe, adding an extra step compared to the prefilled injector pens.
Experts point to several forces driving the falling prices: mounting pressure from the public and Congress on drugmakers' pricing practices; competition from pharmacies, med spas and weight loss clinics offering cheaper compounded versions of the drugs — although many of those are expected to be phased out this month; and the Food and Drug Administration's recent approval of a generic version of Victoza, an older GLP-1 medication that can start at a cost of around $350 for a month's supply. The generic, called liraglutide, is taken daily, unlike Wegovy and Zepbound, which are taken weekly.
Cabandugama said many of his patients typically paid around $1,500 a month out of pocket for brand names Wegovy and Zepbound, but in recent months they've been able to get the same doses for around $400 a month or higher doses for around $500. Others switched from compounded versions to the brand-name drugs.
'A lot of patients were thinking, 'I'm paying this amount for compounding. I couldn't make this switch to the standardized versions,'' he said. 'Now, we have the brand-name version of it for around the same cost.'
Shakira Grant, 41, of North Carolina, started using Lilly's self-pay program for Zepbound earlier this month after a change in her insurance made her ineligible for the company's coupon savings card.
Grant has been on a GLP-1 medication for three years — first Mounjaro, then Zepbound. (Both contain the same active ingredient tirzepatide.) She's now paying $499 a month after previously paying around $550 with the savings card.
Without the self-pay program, Grant said she would have had to stop taking the medication because her insurance doesn't cover it, and she couldn't afford the more than $1,000 out-of-pocket cost.
It's not the perfect solution, she said. Because Lilly doesn't offer all of its Zepbound doses through Lilly Direct, she's had to lower her dose from 15 milligrams to 10 mg. She has also found the process of drawing the medication up from a vial challenging after years of using prefilled injector pens. She said she wishes it were cheaper but that she's willing to pay the price.
'If there was not a backup option, I would have been left with a tough decision,' Grant said. 'Either I tried to afford $1,000 per month or go without the drug cold turkey after being on it for three years.'
Experts say that patients are beginning to pay less out of pocket not only because of the price drops, but also because of improved insurance coverage. The expanded approval of the drugs for conditions beyond diabetes and weight loss — including heart disease risk, for Wegovy, and obstructive sleep apnea, for Zepbound — has also persuaded more insurers to cover them, Cabandugama said.
Elizabeth Kenly, 59, of Graham, North Carolina, said she asked her doctor this month to see if her insurance would cover Zepbound for sleep apnea.
Kenly had been using a compounded version of Zepbound, paying around $600 a month. But if her insurance approves the brand name, her monthly cost could drop to as little as $25.
'The savings, if covered by insurance, would be life-changing,' Kenly said. 'I am still paying what is equivalent to a monthly care payment even with the compounded version.'
Dr. Louis Aronne, a professor of metabolic research at Weill Cornell Medicine, said he's even noticed in even recent months that pharmacies have started bringing down the prices of the weight loss drugs. Aronne serves as a chief medical adviser for Veru, a company developing an experimental weight loss drug, and was the principal investigator in a Lilly trial for tirzepatide.
'They've started to get really competitive,' he said.
Still, barriers remain: $400 to $500 is a significant amount of money for many people.
'You're talking $6,000 a year, and that is still probably more than insurers are paying right now' with discounts, said Dr. David Rind, a primary care physician and the chief medical officer for the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review, a group that determines fair prices for drugs.
'If insurance is relying on the fact that not covering it will allow people to buy it out of pocket, as a primary care doctor, I have a lot of concerns about that,' Rind said.
'These are actually great drugs,' he said. 'For all my complaining about the price, these are drugs that we should want to give to lots of people, but it's been really hard to see how we can afford them.'
Rind said he doesn't expect prices to drop further anytime soon — not until other drugs in development are approved, which likely won't happen for a few more years.
The introduction of lower-priced options and expanding insurance coverage aren't always a win for patients.
Earlier this month, CVS Caremark announced that it will now cover Wegovy under its pharmacy benefit plans — but it will no longer cover Zepbound.
A study published in the New England Journal of Medicine this month found Zepbound outperformed Wegovy in a head-to-head clinical trial.
The move caused a stir on social media among people taking Zepbound who didn't want to switch to Wegovy.
'This decision is purely based on economics, not clinical evidence, and it is not in the best interest of patients,' said Dr. Christopher McGowan, who runs a weight loss clinic in Cary, North Carolina, and is Grant's doctor.
Disrupting a patient's treatment can have serious consequences, he added. They may regain weight, see a slowdown in their weight loss or develop new side effects.
'For patients who have seen life-changing results with Zepbound, losing access can feel like a devastating loss, like losing a lifeline,' McGowan said.
This article was originally published on NBCNews.com

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Bagsværd, Denmark, 22 June 2025 – Novo Nordisk today presented results from the phase 3b FRONTIER5 trial showing that a direct switch to investigational Mim8 (denecimig) prophylaxis from emicizumab treatment, without a washout period or Mim8 loading dose, was well-tolerated with no safety concerns in adults and adolescents living with haemophilia A, with or without inhibitors1. Additionally, a FRONTIER5 Patient-Reported Outcomes (PROs) assessment found the Mim8 pen-injector easy to use, with an overall strong user preference for the pen-injector compared to the previous emicizumab injection system2,3. The results were presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) Congress in Washington, D.C. In the study, the first Mim8 maintenance dose was administered on the next planned emicizumab dosing day. Patients were given the option of switching to once-monthly, once every two weeks or once-weekly dosing frequencies of Mim8, regardless of their prior dosing frequency1,3. Steady-state Mim8 concentration was achieved by Week 16, and emicizumab elimination was completed by Week 261. Switching to Mim8 led to a sustained increase in thrombin peak levels without an exaggerated thrombin response1. 'Continuous prophylactic coverage is critical to avoiding breakthrough bleeds in people living with haemophilia; with new non-factor therapeutic options, many people could have hesitations about switching treatment options. These data demonstrate that switching to Mim8 from emicizumab can be done without requiring a washout period,' said Allison P. Wheeler, MD, Washington Center for Bleeding Disorders, Seattle, WA. 'This is critical in ensuring that individuals maintain continuous protection against bleeding events as we seek to help address the ongoing needs of people living with this complex disease.' The open-label phase 3b FRONTIER5 study consisted of 61 adults and adolescents, aged 12 years and older, with haemophilia A. Mim8 was well-tolerated with no safety concerns. No thromboembolic events, hypersensitivity reactions, or treatment-emergent adverse events (TEAEs) leading to discontinuation were observed, and there was no clinical evidence of neutralising anti-Mim8 antibodies1. The PROs data from FRONTIER5 indicated a strong overall preference for the Mim8 pen-injector, with 97% (n=57/59) of patients reporting a 'very strong' or 'fairly strong' preference in comparison to their previous emicizumab injection system2. Of the participants who completed the Haemophilia Device Handling and Preference Assessment (HDHPA) questionnaire at week 26, 98% (n=58/59) found the Mim8 pen-injector 'very easy' or 'easy' to use, and 95% (n=56/59) found it 'much easier' or 'easier' compared with their previous administration method. All participants (100%) were 'extremely confident' or 'very confident' in using the pen-injector correctly, and most participants (83%; n=49/59) found it 'very easy' to inject the dose2. 'The FRONTIER5 safety and patient-reported outcomes data support Mim8 as a potential future treatment option for people living with haemophilia A and demonstrate our continued commitment to developing innovative treatment options for this community', said Stephanie Seremetis, chief medical officer and CVP for Haemophilia at Novo Nordisk. 'These results give valuable insights into haemophilia A management, highlight the feasibility of directly switching to Mim8 from emicizumab, and reveal a strong patient preference for the Mim8 pen-injector device.' Novo Nordisk expects to submit Mim8 for regulatory review during 2025. Data from the ongoing phase 3 FRONTIER programme will be disclosed at upcoming congresses and in publications in 2025 and 2026. About haemophilia Haemophilia is a rare inherited bleeding disorder that impairs the body's ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding4. It is estimated to affect approximately 1,125,000 people worldwide5. There are different types of haemophilia, which are characterised by the type of clotting factor protein that is defective or missing4. Haemophilia A is caused by a missing or defective clotting Factor VIII (FVIII), and haemophilia B is caused by a missing or defective clotting Factor IX4. Inhibitors are an immune system response to the clotting factors in replacement therapy. Currently, it is estimated that up to 30% of people living with severe haemophilia A develop inhibitors6 that can cause replacement therapies to stop working. About Mim8 Mim8 is an investigational FVIIIa mimetic bispecific antibody optimised with the aim to deliver improved potency and sustained efficacy across flexible dosing intervals up to once-monthly prophylaxis for people living with haemophilia A, with or without inhibitors7-10. Administered under the skin, Mim8 bridges Factor IXa and Factor X. This action replaces FVIII function, which helps restore the body's thrombin generation capacity into the normal range, helping blood to clot7,11. The use of Mim8 in people living with haemophilia A is investigational and not approved by regulatory authorities or available anywhere in the world. About the FRONTIER5 trial FRONTIER5 is a single-arm, open-label, 26-week, phase 3b trial evaluating the safety of switching from previous emicizumab prophylaxis treatment directly to Mim8 prophylaxis treatment using the Mim8 pen-injector in adults and adolescents with haemophilia A, with or without inhibitors3. The FRONTIER clinical programme investigates Mim8 as a prophylaxis treatment for people with haemophilia A, with or without inhibitors. This programme includes FRONTIER1, FRONTIER2, FRONTIER3, FRONTIER4 and FRONTIER53,12-15. About Novo Nordisk Novo Nordisk is a leading global healthcare company founded in 1923 and headquartered in Denmark. Our purpose is to drive change to defeat serious chronic diseases built upon our heritage in diabetes. We do so by pioneering scientific breakthroughs, expanding access to our medicines, and working to prevent and ultimately cure disease. Novo Nordisk employs about 77,400 people in 80 countries and markets its products in around 170 countries. For more information, visit , Facebook , Instagram , X , LinkedIn and YouTube . Contacts for further information _______________________ References Oldenberg J, Benson G, Chowdaryet P, et al. FRONTIER5 direct switch study: Safety of initiating Mim8 prophylaxis without washout of emicizumab. Oral presentation presented at the Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2025; June 21-25 2025; Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C., US. Session code 13686. Mahlangu J, Ahuja S, Cockrell E, et al. FRONTIER5 device handling and patient-reported outcomes. Oral presentation presented at the Congress of the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis 2025; June 21–25 2025; Walter E. Washington Convention Center, Washington D.C., US. Session code 13786. A Research Study Looking at How Safe it is to Switch From Emicizumab to Mim8 in People With Haemophilia A (FRONTIER5). Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. MedlinePlus. Hemophilia. Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. Iorio A, Stonebraker JS, Chambost H, et al. Establishing the Prevalence and Prevalence at Birth of Hemophilia in Males: A Meta-analytic Approach Using National Registries. Ann Intern Med. 2019;171:540–546. doi: 10.7326/M19-1208. Kim JY, You CW. The prevalence and risk factors of inhibitor development of FVIII in previously treated patients with hemophilia A. Blood Res. 2019;54:204-209. doi: 10.5045/br.2019.54.3.204. Ostergaard H, Lund J, Greisen PJ, et al. A factor VIIIa-mimetic bispecific antibody, Mim8, ameliorates bleeding upon severe vascular challenge in hemophilia A mice. Blood. 2021;138:1258-1268. doi: 10.1182/blood.2020010331. Mancuso EM, et al. Efficacy and safety of Mim8 prophylaxis in adults and adolescents with hemophilia A with or without inhibitors: Phase 3, open-label, randomized, controlled FRONTIER2 study. Abstract presented at the International Society on Thrombosis and Haemostasis (ISTH) 2024 Congress. Kenet G, et al. Patient- and caregiver-reported outcomes with subcutaneous Mim8 prophylaxis in paediatric patients with haemophilia A with or without factor VIII inhibitors: phase 3 FRONTIER3 study. Abstract presented at the European Association for Haemophilia and Allied Disorders (EAHAD) 2025 Annual Congress. Session 6. Chowdary P, Banchev AM, Kavakli K, et al. Safety and Efficacy of Mim8 Prophylaxis Administered Once Every Two Weeks for Patients with Hemophilia A with or without Inhibitors: Interim Analysis of the FRONTIER4 Open-Label Extension Study. Abstract presented at the American Society of Hematology (ASH) 2024 Annual Congress. Session: 322. U.S. National Library of Medicine. F8 gene. MedlinePlus Genetics. Available at Last accessed: June 2025. A Research Study Investigating Mim8 in People With Haemophilia A (FRONTIER1). Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. A Research Study Investigating Mim8 in Adults and Adolescents With Haemophilia A With or Without Inhibitors. Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. A Research Study Looking at Mim8 in Children With Haemophilia A With or Without Inhibitors. Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. A Research Study Looking at Long-term Treatment With Mim8 in People With Haemophilia A (FRONTIER4). Available at: Last accessed: June 2025. Attachment Disclaimer: The above press release comes to you under an arrangement with GlobeNewswire. Business Upturn takes no editorial responsibility for the same. Ahmedabad Plane Crash GlobeNewswire provides press release distribution services globally, with substantial operations in North America and Europe.