Wegovy, the popular weight-loss drug from Novo Nordisk, will be available through several leading telehealth providers, beginning this week. The company’s announcement comes as many compounding pharmacies have been restricted from making unapproved, less-expensive versions of GLP-1 medications.
“We felt it was really important to work hard to establish a collaboration with telehealth companies so that there could be access to Wegovy as the compounding is winding down,” Dave Moore, executive vice president of U.S. operations at Novo Nordisk, told CNBC. “We’re really pleased about the level of interest to access branded Wegovy and to start to sort of catch people as they come off of compounded medicine.”
NovoCare, Novo Nordisk’s new online pharmacy, can be accessed directly through three telehealth providers:
- Hims & Hers will offer Wegovy starting at $599 monthly to eligible cash-paying patients with a prescription. This price includes access to 24/7 care, nutritional guidance and ongoing clinical support. Hims & Hers started prescribing compounded semaglutide, the active ingredient in Wegovy, a year ago. CEO Andrew Dudum said he believes the company’s partnership with Novo Nordisk will serve as a case study for how patients get access to medicine and other forms of treatment.
- Ro will offer access for a lower price of $499 per month. Twenty-four/seven messaging, one-on-one coaching, educational content and more will be offered through its monthly membership, the Body Program. “Adding Novo Nordisk’s FDA-approved treatments at the best available cash price will help more patients nationwide get the obesity care they need to achieve their goals, particularly those without insurance coverage,” CEO Zach Reitano said in a release.
- LifeMD said it will offer access to all doses of the drug for $499 per month.
Compounding pharmacies had been allowed to produce their own versions of Wegovy while the FDA said the medicines were in short supply. However, last week a federal judge rejected a bid by compounding pharmacies to keep selling copies of Wegovy while a legal challenge over drug shortages plays out. Larger facilities, which make compounded drugs in bulk to sell to telehealth companies and others, must stop making the drug by May 27, while smaller compounding pharmacies must stop immediately.
“This should also be a very clear message that we have full supply of Wegovy,” Moore told Reuters. “We want everyone to know that all doses are available.”