Ozempic Prices Cut Down To $499
After years of criticism over soaring drug prices, pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk has taken a dramatic step: it slashed the monthly price of Ozempic from around $1,000 to $499 for uninsured and cash-paying patients in the United States.
The new price, which went into effect this week, is available through the company’s direct-to-consumer NovoCare pharmacy and through discount platforms like GoodRx. While most insured Americans already pay as little as $25 for the popular diabetes and weight loss drug, the move opens a new door for those left out of the insurance system.
But this decision isn’t just about access. It comes as Novo Nordisk faces a wave of lawsuits from patients who claim Ozempic caused serious side effects, including gastroparesis—a disorder that slows or stops food from moving out of the stomach. Some plaintiffs allege that the company failed to provide adequate warnings, and their cases detail hospital stays, chronic nausea, and debilitating digestive problems.
With legal pressure mounting and public scrutiny growing, Novo Nordisk is now under fire from both patients and politicians. Former President Donald Trump and a group of lawmakers have recently renewed calls for tighter regulation and pricing transparency, especially for GLP-1 medications like Ozempic and Wegovy, which have seen explosive demand.
In a statement, Dave Moore, Novo Nordisk’s U.S. operations chief, said the company acted out of concern for patient safety. “When patients turn to unregulated, compounded knockoff drugs because they can’t afford real Ozempic, that’s a red flag,” Moore said. “We had to act.”
This new pricing aligns Ozempic with Wegovy, another Novo Nordisk product based on the same active ingredient, semaglutide. Both are now available for $499 through the company’s affordability programs.
Critics, however, argue the move affects only a small slice of users. While the gesture may help uninsured Americans, it doesn’t address deeper concerns about why U.S. patients still pay far more than those in Europe for the same medications.
As lawsuits proceed and Washington keeps watch, Novo Nordisk seems to be trying to get ahead of the storm—lowering prices, softening public backlash, and signaling a shift in how Big Pharma handles affordability in an era of blockbuster weight loss drugs.
