Deal with White House Provides Discounts on Some GLP-1 Drugs for Obesity

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have agreed to crank down the prices of some of their hugely popular glucagon-like peptide (GLP-1) drugs used to treat diabetes and obesity. The new pricing deal, announced today by President Donald Trump and the CEOs of the two companies at the White House, is part of the current administration’s most-favored-nation and direct-to-consumer drug pricing efforts.

Additionally, the White House announced that Medicare Part D coverage for the obesity medicines will be available through a pilot program beginning April 1, 2026. New formulations of Wegovy (semaglutide) and Zepbound (tirzepatide) will be available at lowered prices, and Medicare beneficiaries will have copays of no more than $50 per month, according to a White House news release.

Here is what’s part of the agreement with Lilly

• Starting April 1, 2026, Medicare beneficiaries will pay no more than $50 per month for Lilly’s Zepbound multidose pen and for orforglipron, an oral GLP-1. Neither has been approved by the FDA, although approval is expected soon. States will also be able to expand access to the Zepbound multidose pen and the orforglipron pills through their Medicaid programs. Zepbound is currently approved as a once-weekly injection in a prefilled, single-dose pen or vial.
• Orforglipron will be available at its lowest dose starting at $149 (with higher doses costing up to $399) through LillyDirect, Lilly's direct-to-consumer cash payment business. Orforglipron is being assessed in phase 3 trials as a treatment for diabetes and obesity. Lilly announced this summer it will be submmitting applications to regulatory authorities around the world for orforglipron as an obesity treatment by the end of this year, with diabetes submissions to follow in 2026. Lilly has applied for a priority voucher through the FDA’s new accelerated approval pathway that is billed as shortening the approval process to just one or two months.
• The Zepbound multidose pen will be available at the lowest dose at $299, with additional doses up to $449, which represents a $50 discount to current direct-to-patient prices; the company said in a press release that this is priced similar to what is available in Europe. When patients refill their multi-dose pen prescription on the LillyDirect digital health platform, they will pay no more than $449.
• Emgality (galcanezumab-gnlm), Trulicity (dulaglutide), and Mounjaro (tirzepatide) will be added to LillyDirect and made available for self-pay patients with pricing at 50% to 60% off their current list prices.
• Lilly will receive three years of tariff relief and will not be subject to future pricing mandates.

Here is what’s part of the agreement with Novo Nordisk:

• Novo Nordisk has not released specifics about the deal for Ozempic and Wegovy, both of which are semaglutide products. The company has said it will be lowering prices for its injectable Wegovy and Ozempic across U.S. Medicare Part D, Medicaid and direct-to-patient self-pay channels. The White House said in a press release that Wegovy and Ozempic will be sold at $350 monthly when bought through TrumpRx.
• Novo Nordisk plans to update its current self-pay offerings for Wegovy and Ozempic in the coming weeks.
• An oral formulation of Wegovy, which is currently under review by the FDA, would have a price of $149 for the initial dose across all direct-to-patient offerings. Novo Nordisk also today released new data from the OASIS 4 phase 3 trial with cardiometabolic post hoc analysis that looked at the impact on glycemic parameters (blood sugar control) and cardiovascular (CV) risk factors. Results showed that in the overall trial population, a higher percentage of participants with pre-diabetes at baseline achieved normal blood glucose at week 64 in the semaglutide group versus placebo.
• Novo Nordisk has also committed to an additional investment to strengthen its domestic footprint, including producing the Wegovy pill if approved in the United States.
• Novo Nordisk is expected to receive a three-year tariff exemption.