By Stacie Mays
Breaking news…Oral Wegovy was approved yesterday, with Lilly’s Zepbound expected to follow in the next few months. Both companies have agreed to sell the drugs direct-to-consumer for $150/month for the lowest dose.
The insurance price has not yet been announced.
With these launches, we’re seeing a first-ever direct-to-consumer strategy at launch, which fundamentally changes the marketing game—and the balance of power—in pharma.
Everything from manufacturing to delivery is controlled by the pharmaceutical company. No PBM. And likely limited insurance coverage in the commercial space.
Oral drugs are far more convenient than injectables. While demand for GLP-1s has exploded, some people shy away because they don’t like shots. With that barrier eliminated—and pricing at roughly 1/10th the introductory injectable price—we could see 50% of the adult population try these drugs over the next several years.
From a revenue perspective for both Novo and Lilly, this is a license to print money. They have significant room to experiment with pricing models since they control the process end-to-end.
My guess is their actual cost is around $30/month.
So a few questions:
• Employers: Is there any chance you’ll pay $1,500/month (with a $400 rebate) when employees can get the drug for $150?
• Employees: If you’re in a self-funded plan, are you willing to keep subsidizing colleagues at $1,500/month when a $150 option exists?
Are we ready to have that conversation?
And the big policy questions:
- Will Medicaid plans get access to direct priciing
- Will Medicare cover the drug?
Only time will tell.
