The Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk announced it has temporarily reduced the price of the weight-loss drug Wegovy for new customers as it attempts to limit sales of compounded versions of the medication.
Novo Nordisk will sell a one-month supply of Wegovy for $199 through June 30 for patients who previously took compounded versions of the medication. The announcement coincides with a federal deadline on May 22, for manufacturers to cease distributing less expensive, compounded versions of the drug.
Novo Nordisk officials said the one-time discounted price is meant for people who must pay for the drug because they are uninsured or their health insurance doesn't cover it. The price will revert to a cash price of $499 after June 30.
"We want to be there and meet patients as they transition from a compounded (version) to the real Wegovy," said Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk's executive vice president of U.S. operations.
Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly have been scrutinized over prices for the popular class of diabetes and obesity medications known as GLP-1, or or glucagon-like peptide-1, drugs.
While insurers often cover GLP-1 drugs when prescribed for diabetes or heart conditions, many insurers have been reluctant to cover the medications for obesity. Some Blue Cross Blue Shield plans won't cover the drugs for weight loss at all.
In April, the Trump administration rejected a Biden proposal to expand Medicare coverage of the weight-loss medications.
Consumers who turned to compounding pharmacies to purchase less expensive versions of those medications no longer have that option.
The federal government allowed compounding pharmacies to sell copies of GLP-1 drugs while the medications were in short supply. But the Food and Drug Administration said the shortages of Wegovy and Eli Lilly's Zepbound are over.
As of May 22, manufacturers are no longer allowed to distribute the compounded versions of semaglutide, which Novo Nordisk sells under the brand Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for diabetes.
The industry trade group Outsourcing Facilities Association sued the FDA in U.S. District Court in Texas and filed a motion seeking to delay enforcement. But a federal judge denied the group's motion.
Lee Rosebush, chairman of the industry group, said patient access to the medications "has taken an enormous step backwards."
He said the FDA relied on data supplied by pharmaceutical companies to declare the GLP-1 medications are no longer in shortage, thus ending the legal avenue for compounders to sell less expensive copies.
"FDA-registered outsourcing facilities will no longer be able to make compounded GLP-1 medications, removing a more affordable option for consumers, particularly as major insurers are now refusing to cover GLP-1s," Rosebush said. "We urge patients who are affected by the FDA's action to contact their members of Congress and the FDA directly to share how the shortage designation removal is impacting their health and well-being."