US President Donald Trump held a press conference on Thursday to announce a landmark deal with pharmaceutical giants Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower the prices of weight loss drugs.
Trump offered concessions to the two pharmaceutical giants in exchange for relief from US tariffs.
The move is the Trump administration’s latest effort to tackle rising drug prices in the US.
Drug companies Pfizer and AstraZeneca agreed to reduce the cost of prescription drugs for Medicaid after Trump signed an executive order in May that set a deadline for drugmakers to reduce prices or face new limits on what the government will pay.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk “have agreed to offer their most popular weight loss drug, GLP-1, at a deep discount,” Trump said at the White House.
“Both companies are committed to offering Zepbound and Wegovi at ‘Most Favored Nation’ rates for US patients,” he said.
Weight loss drugs are popular in America
The drugs, made by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, known as GLP-1s, target hormones in the gut and brain that regulate feelings of hunger and fullness.
Patients new to the drug will usually start with a smaller dose and then increase to a larger dose depending on the patient’s needs. But experts say patients definitely need to stay on the medication otherwise there is a risk of weight gain again.
The drug brands Ozempic, Vegovy and Monjaro have grown rapidly in popularity in the US.
Despite that popularity, they are considered unaffordable, as they can cost more than $1,000 (€866) per month.
How cheap will the medicines be?
Trump said his plan would reduce the cost of products for eligible people.
US drug prices can vary depending on competition for treatment and insurance coverage, so it is hard to predict what prices will be.
But under Trump’s plan, an oral dose of GLP-1 for some groups of people is expected to drop to about $150 once approved, a senior U.S. official said.
Injectable versions of the drugs will cost more than $245 for Medicare and Medicaid recipients who meet certain criteria.
This does not mean that the lowest prices will be available to all Americans. The prices outlined by the White House would apply to Medicare and Medicaid – safety net programs that provide health coverage to older Americans and low-income people, respectively.
For everyone else, Trump is set to launch a direct-to-consumer website, TrumpRx, a Trump official said.
“This is a victory for American patients that will save lives and improve the health of millions and millions of Americans,” Trump told reporters.
According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, obesity among American adults is estimated at more than 40%, or nearly half the population.
Edited by: Srinivas Majumdaru