NovoCare Pharmacy may improve access to Wegovy, but concerns about affordability remain
Key takeaways:
- Adults with obesity who have a prescription for Wegovy can purchase the medication from NovoCare Pharmacy.
- The program is aimed at uninsured patients or those whose insurance does not cover obesity drugs.
Adults with obesity who have a prescription for Wegovy but do not have insurance coverage for the drug can now purchase the medication through a new Novo Nordisk direct-to-consumer program.
In a March 5 press release, Novo Nordisk announced the launch of NovoCare Pharmacy, a direct-to-patient program that will provide any available dose of Wegovy (semaglutide, Novo Nordisk) for $499 per month. According to a statement from the company sent to Healio, the program provides patients without health insurance or patients whose commercial health insurance does not cover obesity medications a way to self-pay for the medication and avoid the “significant risks that can be posed by fake or illegally compounded semaglutide.”
“With an FDA-approved medicine like Wegovy, it’s important that health care professionals and patients can have clarity and confidence in knowing the medicine they are using has undergone rigorous review for safety, effectiveness and quality,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said in an email. “Additionally, most patients with insurance coverage for anti-obesity medicine, including Wegovy,will pay $0 to $25 per month — however, we recognize that cash-paying patients without insurance or whose commercial insurance does not cover obesity medicine need options, too, so that is why this option was developed.”
Katherine H. Saunders, MD, DABOM, co-founder of FlyteHealth and obesity physician at Weill Cornell Medicine, said the program attempts to fill a void, since insurance coverage of obesity medications remains a barrier to treatment.
“There is a tremendous need to improve access to obesity medications for individuals who don’t have insurance coverage,” Saunders told Healio.
Program details and pricing
According to the company press release, NovoCare Pharmacy is providing Wegovy in 0.25 mg, 0.5 mg. 1 mg, 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg doses. Patients who want to purchase the drug through the program can have a prescription sent to NovoCare Pharmacy from a licensed health care professional. NovoCare Pharmacy prescriptions are being dispensed through CenterWell Pharmacy. Patients can schedule monthly shipments of the drug to be delivered to their home.
NovoCare Pharmacy is offering Wegovy at a price of $499 for a 28-day supply. The Novo Nordisk website states the 28-day list price for Wegovy is $1,349. Before the launch of NovoCare Pharmacy, patients without insurance coverage for Wegovy could use a savings card to lower their monthly cost to $650 per month.
Diana Isaacs, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, BC-ADM, CDCES, FADCES, FCCP, an endocrine clinical pharmacy specialist and co-director of Endocrine Disorders in Pregnancy at Cleveland Clinic, and a Healio | Endocrine Today Editorial Board Member, said even with the reduction in price, there may still be many patients who cannot afford Wegovy.
“It’s definitely a lot of money, so I don’t know what the uptake will be,” Isaacs told Healio. “I’m sure [uptake] will be better than when it was $650. But it’s still pretty expensive.”
Saunders agreed and said the price for Wegovy remains “out of reach” for most patients without insurance coverage. She added that NovoCare Pharmacy only addresses some of the barriers people face for acquiring obesity medications.
“Other critical barriers include insurance coverage, number of qualified clinicians and weight bias, stigma and discrimination,” Saunders said.
Increasing access
The NovoCare Pharmacy announcement came less than 2 weeks after the company and the FDA announced the removal of all doses of semaglutide from the agency’s drug shortage list. As Healio previously reported, state-licensed compounding pharmacies and physicians under section 503A of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act may no longer distribute compounded semaglutide after April 22, and outsourcing facilities under section 503B of the law must stop manufacturing compounded semaglutide after May 22.
“We are pleased that the FDA has updated the status of Wegovy to ‘resolved’ on their drug shortage website, indicating that the supply of this prescription-only GLP-1 medicine now meets or exceeds current and projected demand in the U.S. and that all doses of Wegovy are being shipped regularly to our customers,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said in an email.
Isaacs said she was pleased to see Novo Nordisk take a step toward improving access to semaglutide. She also praised the company for providing the medications prefilled in pens rather than selling it in vials and having patients draw up the medication in syringes.
“I appreciate what they’re trying to do, because most likely the people who are using compounding pharmacies, with the shortage being resolved, [will have] less access to compounded semaglutide,” Isaacs told Healio. “I think it’s a positive thing.”
NovoCare Pharmacy vs. LillyDirect
The launch of NovoCare Pharmacy comes a little more than 1 year after Eli Lilly launched LillyDirect in January 2024. As Healio previously reported, LillyDirect is a direct-to-consumer platform that connects patients with health care professionals for the treatment of diabetes, obesity, migraines and sleep apnea. The platform allows patients to fill prescriptions for select Eli Lilly medications through LillyDirect Pharmacy Solutions.
NovoCare Pharmacy differs from LillyDirect in several ways. In an email, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson said NovoCare Pharmacy is only available for patients prescribed Wegovy and is not partnered with any health care practices or telehealth companies. LillyDirect offers multiple types of medications beyond its GIP/GLP-1 dual agonist tirzepatide (Mounjaro/Zepbound, Eli Lilly) and partners with several telehealth providers to connect patients who need to see a health care professional.
NovoCare Pharmacy is also a cash-pay only program, according to its terms and conditions of use. Patients enrolled in any federal or state health program, including Medicare or Medicaid, are not eligible for NovoCare Pharmacy. Commercial health insurance plans are also not accepted with NovoCare Pharmacy. LillyDirect accepts most health insurance plans with some of its medications, with other drugs being self-pay only, according to a frequently asked questions page on its website.
Isaacs said she does not feel that LillyDirect has had a huge impact on tirzepatide uptake since its launch due to costs and the availability of cheaper compounded drugs. She said although she believes that it is possible more patients gravitate toward NovoCare Pharmacy and LillyDirect with both semaglutide and tirzepatide off the FDA drug shortage list, some forms of compounded medications may be available for a little while longer.
“I think it’s going to take a while before the compounding pharmacies fully dissipate [with semaglutide and tirzepatide],” Isaacs said. “I think that they’re going to try to keep compounding, and it’s going to take Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly a long time to litigate all of this. ... I think both programs might be slow-growing.”
References:
- FAQs about LillyDirect. https://lillydirect.lilly.com/faq. Accessed March 6, 2025.
- Novo Nordisk introduces NovoCare Pharmacy, lowering cost of all doses of FDA-approved Wegovy (semaglutide) to $499 per month and offering easy home delivery for cash-paying patients. https://www.novonordisk-us.com/media/news-archive/news-details.html?id=915288. Published March 5, 2025. Accessed March 6, 2025.
- Terms and conditions of use: NovoCare Pharmacy (CoAssist Pharmacy d/b/a NovoCare Pharmacy). https://www.novocare.com/eligibility/obesity-pharmacy.html. Accessed March 6, 2025.
- What is the list price for Wegovy and will it impact me? https://www.novocare.com/obesity/products/wegovy/let-us-help/explaining-list-price.html. Accessed March 6, 2025.
For more information:
Diana Isaacs, PharmD, BCPS, BCACP, BC-ADM, CDCES, FADCES, FCCP, can be reach at isaacsd@ccf.org; X (Twitter): @DianaMIsaacs
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