A new stage in the boom of weight loss drugs began on Monday: Novo Nordisk rolled out a pill version of Wegovy nationwide, reports the Washington Post. The company is betting that a pill will expand the GLP-1 market to those leery of shots. Doctors can now prescribe the once-daily semaglutide pill, with more than 70,000 pharmacies and mail-order services stocking it, the company said. For people without insurance, the introductory dose will cost $149 a month, per NBC News. Patients with employer coverage can expect to pay at least $25 monthly. The highest dose will be available later this week and cost $299 a month.
The pill lands amid an intensifying fight with Eli Lilly, which has been gaining ground with its injectable Zepbound and is advancing its own GLP-1 pill, orforglipron. Both companies plan the same price for their lowest-dose pills, but Novo Nordisk has undercut Lilly's announced cash price for higher doses by $100 a month. A study in the New England Journal of Medicine found that patients on the top Wegovy pill dose lost about 14% of their body weight over 64 weeks, per NPR.
The Food and Drug Administration cleared the pill last month to treat obesity and reduce cardiovascular risk. Novo Nordisk says the tablets are produced end-to-end at its Clayton, N.C., complex, which is midway through a $4 billion expansion. Executives argue that ramped-up capacity will help the company avoid a repeat of years-long FDA shortage listings for Ozempic (also made by Novo Nordisk) and injectable Wegovy, which opened space for cheaper compounded versions.
,
uBlock 
,
and
Ghostery 
)
