Novo Nordisk reduces the U.S. list price of semaglutide, with discounts up to 50%

The highly watched GLP-1 market is full of hot topics. This week, Novo Nordisk announced that it will reduce the prices of its three versions of semaglutide products in the U.S. market, with a maximum reduction of 50%.

Semaglutide is a product that impacts the entire performance of Novo Nordisk. Especially in the face of fierce market competition, Novo Nordisk has repeatedly lowered its earnings expectations for 2025. According to the latest disclosed annual financial report data, major competitor Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide has surpassed Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide with over $36.5 billion in sales revenue, taking the top spot in the global “drug king” position.

New prices to take effect next year as stock prices continue to decline

According to a statement released on Novo Nordisk’s official website, the company has decided to significantly reduce the prices of Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus (the three versions of semaglutide products) in the U.S. market to continuously enhance drug accessibility.

The statement indicated that starting January 1, 2027, Novo Nordisk will adjust the prices of the three versions of semaglutide products, which include multiple specifications, to $675 per month. This decision applies to all formulations of the drug. Compared to the current prices, the price reductions for Wegovy (oral semaglutide) and Ozempic (diabetes version of semaglutide) are 50% and 35%, respectively. According to publicly available information, Eli Lilly’s similar weight loss drug tirzepatide is currently officially priced at $1,086.37 per month in the U.S.

Jamey Millar, Executive Vice President and Head of U.S. Operations at Novo Nordisk, stated in the announcement that for the company, lowering prices is the best way to help over 100 million obese patients and more than 35 million type 2 diabetes patients in the U.S. The statement mentioned, “Individuals and public payers, as well as patients, are calling for access to the drugs and price reductions. This move is a response to that demand and aims to eliminate price barriers, allowing more patients to benefit from the drug’s efficacy, especially those whose out-of-pocket expenses are tied to the price, such as individuals participating in high-deductible health insurance plans or those with co-insurance benefits.”

The capital market is not “buying” Novo Nordisk’s price reduction. Since the announcement of the price cut, Novo Nordisk’s stock price has been continuously declining in the U.S. stock market, falling again by 1.11% on February 25, with the stock price reaching its lowest point since June 2021, leading to a market capitalization shrinkage to $169.7 billion.

Behind Novo Nordisk’s price reduction is the expectation of a larger market. However, competitor Eli Lilly is not easy to “deal with.” As early as 2025, media reports indicated that semaglutide had lost its leading position in the U.S. market, overtaken by competitor Eli Lilly.

This is not the first time semaglutide has been priced down in the U.S. In November 2025, Novo Nordisk announced that it had reached an agreement with the U.S. government to reduce the prices of semaglutide drugs (including Wegovy and Ozempic) starting in 2026 under Medicare Part D, Medicaid, and direct cash channels for patients, thereby expanding their accessibility and affordability. Obesity treatment drugs will be included in Medicare Part D through pilot programs, covering most Part D beneficiaries. This move is expected to have a negative impact of about a low single-digit percentage on its global sales growth in 2026.

The recent price cut is based on agreements reached by multiple companies with the Trump administration, and Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide is also part of the price reduction effort. Both pharmaceutical companies will benefit from a three-year tariff exemption.

“Short-lived” drug king

Due to its effectiveness in weight loss, as well as its benefits for weight reduction, blood sugar control, and cardiovascular health, GLP-1 receptor agonists have gained global fame. Semaglutide is a second-generation GLP-1 receptor agonist developed by Novo Nordisk. In June 2021, semaglutide’s weight loss indication was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), making it the first weekly GLP-1 receptor agonist approved for weight management.

Eli Lilly is Novo Nordisk’s main competitor in the GLP-1 field, especially with its GIP/GLP-1 receptor agonist tirzepatide, which received FDA approval in November 2023 for weight loss indications. Although it did not gain a first-mover advantage in terms of market entry, Eli Lilly is fully pushing for its commercialization due to its superior weight loss effects. After the approval of tirzepatide’s weight loss indication, Eli Lilly was the first to initiate a “price war,” pricing tirzepatide 20% lower than semaglutide. To facilitate patient access, Eli Lilly also announced the launch of a new website, LillyDirect, in January 2024, allowing patients to obtain weight loss medications and diabetes prescriptions through telehealth providers, with delivery services offered directly to patients. Eli Lilly stated that LillyDirect would make it easier for patients to access medications without needing to go to a doctor for a prescription and then to a pharmacy.

Tirzepatide has not disappointed Eli Lilly, contributing $176 million in revenue within less than two months of its market launch. At that time, data and analytics company GlobalData believed that the superior clinical data for weight loss efficacy would allow tirzepatide to surpass semaglutide and become the best-selling drug in the obesity and diabetes market, with projected sales reaching $27 billion by 2029.

From a market performance perspective, tirzepatide has outperformed expectations. Recent financial reports show that the diabetes version of tirzepatide achieved sales revenue of $22.965 billion in 2025, a year-on-year increase of 99%, while the weight loss version generated revenue of $13.542 billion, a year-on-year increase of 175%. Based on this, tirzepatide, with over $36.5 billion in annual revenue, surpassed Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide ($36.1 billion) to become the world’s best-selling drug, claiming the “drug king” title.

In contrast, semaglutide can be considered a short-lived “drug king.” In 2023, Merck’s PD-1 monoclonal antibody pembrolizumab (commonly known as K药) surpassed AbbVie’s Humira, which had held the title of the best-selling drug globally for 11 years, with an annual sales of $25 billion. In 2024, K药 retained its title with sales of $29.5 billion, slightly ahead of the rising semaglutide ($29.3 billion). It wasn’t until 2025 that semaglutide began to surpass, leading from the first quarter but by the end of the year, tirzepatide with higher overall annual revenue broke through.

Given this, it’s understandable why Novo Nordisk is reducing prices. However, for Novo Nordisk, a bigger test lies ahead. On one hand, starting in March of this year, the core compound patent for semaglutide will begin to expire in several international markets, including China, facing competition and price pressure from generic drugs.

Additionally, Novo Nordisk’s official website also announced a research result this week, indicating that the company’s new generation weight loss drug CagriSema showed a 23% weight reduction in an open-label, head-to-head clinical trial, but did not meet the primary endpoint for non-inferiority in weight loss compared to Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide. The aforementioned sharp decline in stock prices also occurred after this result was announced.