Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will lower prices of its weight loss drug Wegovy as it plans to raise sales volumes and navigate tough competition.
Prices for the blockbuster drug fell in the first quarter. The company plans to continue to cut prices in the US because of high volume and competition, chief financial officer Karsten Munk Knudsen said on the company’s Thursday earnings call.
Sales of Wegovy more than doubled in the first quarter year-on-year, to 9.4 billion Danish crowns, or $1.3 billion, according to the company’s earnings. In the US, more than 25,000 new patients are starting the drug weekly, compared to 5,000 in the beginning of the year, Knudsen said.
Knudsen and CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen said on the earnings call that they’re prioritizing accessibility to Wegovy, instead of keeping prices high — despite significant demand at current costs. They did not specify how much Novo plans to cut Wegovy’s prices.
The Danish pharmaceutical maker, which also produces viral weight loss drug Ozempic, reported better-than-expected sales of 65 billion Danish crowns, or $9.4 billion, in the first quarter. The company also raised forecasts for 2024 and said it expects to sales to grow between 19% and 27%.
The Wegovy price cuts come as Novo faces competition from US rival, Eli Lilly, which also posted earnings this week and reported a 26% increase in revenue in the first quarter. Eli Lilly said that revenue growth was driven by Ozempic and Wegovy competitors Mounjaro and Zepbound, which are used to treat Type 2 diabetes and obesity, respectively.
Novo’s pricing for Ozempic and Wegovy has come under recent political scrutiny. Last week, US Senator Bernie Sanders launched an investigation looking into “the outrageously high prices” Novo charges for both drugs in the US, which he said were much higher than in other countries.
Wegovy and similar weight-loss drugs have become a huge business. With the US adult obesity rate at around 40%, the drugs could be prescribed to 15 million Americans in the next few years, per a 2023 Goldman Sachs report. The bank estimated that the anti-obesity drug market to grow to $100 billion by 2030.
The highly-coveted drugs are being snagged by celebrities like Oprah Winfrey, Elon Musk, and Charles Barkley. They are also gaining popularity with people who are going out of their way to afford them.
