Close-up of hand holding cell phone displaying Amazon Pharmacy system, Lafayette, California, September 15, 2021.
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Amazon Announced on Friday and available now novo nordiskWegovy offers weight loss drugs through its digital pharmacy.
Novo Nordisk on Monday began rolling out an oral version of its injectable obesity drug Wegovy in the United States, offering starting doses to cash-paying patients for $149 a month. Patients with insurance can get the pill for just $25 a month.
The daily pill enters the market at the lowest cash price in the fast-growing field of obesity and diabetes drugs, long dominated by expensive weekly injections from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. Availability on Amazon confirms Novo Nordisk’s strategy to expand beyond traditional channels and reach new patients.
Amazon says eligible customers with insurance can pay as little as $25 for a month’s worth of medications. Cash payment options start at $149 per month.
Amazon has announced that it will also offer Wegovy pills through prescription vending machines at some One Medical clinics in the coming weeks.
The e-commerce giant launched Amazon Pharmacy in 2020 as part of its further push into the multi-trillion dollar US healthcare industry. The service was created in 2018 with the acquisition of online pharmacy Pillpack for about $750 million. In 2022, it acquired primary care clinic One Medical for $3.9 billion.
Amazon has tried to attract users to its service by offering fast shipping and price transparency. Amazon says it offers same-day prescription delivery to nearly half of U.S. consumers.
The company does not disclose the number of Amazon Pharmacy users, but analysts estimate that Amazon Pharmacy could generate about $2 billion in annual revenue.
WeightWatchers announced in October that it would partner with Amazon Pharmacy to deliver weight loss medications to its members. We also partner with Amazon Pharmacy. Eli Lilly The move is to help deliver certain prescription drugs, such as the obesity drug Zepbound, purchased through drug companies’ direct-to-consumer websites.
After this week’s launch, Novo Nordisk’s pills will be available at more than 70,000 pharmacies in the U.S., including CVS and Costco, as well as select telemedicine providers, including Ro, LifeMD, Weight Watchers, GoodRx and Novo Nordisk’s NovoCare Pharmacy.
Cash-paying patients can also access a starting dose of the pill for $149 a month on President Donald Trump’s direct-to-consumer website TrumpRx, under an agreement Novo Nordisk signed with the administration in November. The site will also launch in January, but the exact date is unknown.
Health experts say an oral treatment option could expand access to obesity treatment in the United States, potentially reaching a whole new group of people who are afraid of needles or who believed injections were too serious or aggressive to start.
Eli Lilly has a competing obesity drug that is expected to win Food and Drug Administration approval later this year.
