Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk's "popular weight-loss drugs" are expected to be included in US medical insurance! Weight-loss drugs costing thousands of yuan may drop in price by 85%.
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The U.S. government is close to reaching a milestone agreement in negotiations with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk.
According to media reports on Tuesday, Eli Lilly is close to an agreement with the U.S. government regarding the price of weight loss drugs. The agreement will allow U.S. Medicare and Medicaid to cover weight loss drugs, in exchange for the two companies significantly lowering the prices of their best-selling weight loss medications.
According to sources cited by the media, discussions are still ongoing, but if finalized, President Trump is expected to announce the news this Thursday at the White House together with top pharma executives.
The deal will be implemented through a program called “TrumpRx,” in which the monthly price for some popular GLP-1 medications could be as low as $149.
For the two companies, although facing price-cutting pressures, gaining federal Medicare coverage would open up a massive new reimbursement market for them and is regarded as a major positive. For the U.S. government, this move is part of its efforts to control high drug costs.
The news pushed Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly’s stock prices up nearly 2% in the short term, before those gains were sharply pared back.
(Stocks of Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly rose in the short term)
Deal Details
Currently, U.S. federal medical insurance programs are permitted to reimburse GLP-1 drugs for non-weight loss purposes (such as reducing the risk of heart attack or treating sleep apnea), but are explicitly barred from paying for their use purely for weight loss.
If an agreement is reached, this situation will be completely changed. The agreement will require U.S. Medicare to reimburse the cost of weight loss drugs for obese patients who also have other high health risks, and will allow states to cover these drugs in Medicaid programs.
According to sources cited by the media, the agreement sets specific discounted prices for different doses of weight loss medications:
Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy: The monthly supply for the lowest dose will be set at $149 under the TrumpRx plan.Eli Lilly’s Zepbound: The starting dose will be priced at $299, which is $50 lower than the price currently offered to patients via Eli Lilly’s direct sales website.Eli Lilly’s oral drug in development: If the weight loss pill orforglipron currently in clinical trials is approved by the FDA, the starting dose will also be sold at $149.
The current sticker prices of these drugs generally range from $1,000 to $1,350 per month.
Additionally, reports indicate that Novo Nordisk’s diabetes drug Ozempic may also be included in the TrumpRx plan, but the specific price has not yet been determined.
As part of the negotiations, Eli Lilly is also seeking a “priority review voucher” from the FDA, aiming to shorten the review period for orforglipron from the usual 6–10 months to just one to two months.
Responses and Background
On this matter, a spokesperson from Eli Lilly told the media that the company “is in discussions with the U.S. government to further expand patient access, protect innovation, and promote drug affordability,” but declined to share specifics.
A spokesperson for Novo Nordisk said the company “is having constructive discussions with the U.S. government” and hopes to make its drugs more affordable.
A spokesperson from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) said the President wants to make these products cheaper, and the government will announce once an agreement is reached.
This round of negotiations is part of the “most favored nation” pricing policy, launched by the Trump administration in July last year to lower U.S. drug costs. Previously, Pfizer, AstraZeneca, and EMD Serono had reached similar agreements with the government.
According to reports, U.S. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was initially skeptical about wider coverage for GLP-1 drugs, fearing costs could reach as high as $3 trillion.
However, CMS Director Mehmet Oz, a cardiac surgeon, presented him with scientific research showing the drugs can effectively prevent heart disease and diabetes, and provided data on how this could save money for the U.S. federal government, eventually persuading him to support expanded coverage.
President Trump said last month that the price of weight loss drugs could be reduced to $150 or “even lower,” but Mehmet Oz quickly clarified at the time that negotiations were still ongoing.
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