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United States President Donald Trump, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk have unveiled a deal to cut prices of the popular weight-loss drug GLP-1 for the government's Medicare and Medicaid program as well as cash payers.
The deal announced Thursday is aimed at increasing access to treatment through US Medicare for people age 65 and older and the Medicaid program for low-income people, which together provide health coverage for nearly half of all Americans.
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US patients currently pay the most for prescription drugs, often nearly three times more than in other developed countries, and Trump has pressured drugmakers to lower their prices to what patients pay elsewhere.
“This is going to level the world,” Trump told reporters from the Oval Office, noting that Lilly and Novo would make their other drugs available to Medicaid at “most favored nation” prices.
The event ended abruptly when a visitor in the Oval Office fainted.
Starting doses of competing diet pills developed by Lilly and Novo, if approved, would cost $149 a month for all Medicare and Medicaid enrollees and through the White House's new direct-to-consumer site, TrumpRx, senior administration officials said.
For currently available injectables GLP-1 used for diabetes and other covered health issues, prices will drop to $245 a month for patients with Medicare or Medicaid, they said.
included TrumpRxthe average cost of injectables and pills will start at or below $350 a month and is expected to drop to $245 within two years.
Lilly announced that the lowest dose of Zepbound will be available for $299 per month, with additional doses priced at $449 per month for patients who pay cash under the new deal.
In Medicare, patient copayments will be capped at $50 a month, officials said.
Commercial health insurers will also have access to rates that are estimated to be 25 percent lower than current cash rates, they said.
The government will also expand GLP-1 coverage under the deal, officials said, to overweight patients with prediabetes or heart problems, obese patients with comorbidities and severely obese patients, who make up 10 percent of Medicare patients.
Currently, Medicare does not usually cover obesity medications. Medicaid coverage, which is administered by each state and funded jointly with the federal government, varies.
The negotiated prices will go into effect no later than January for cash payers, by mid-2026 for Medicare patients and on an ongoing basis for Medicaid enrollees, depending on when states sign up.
Administration officials said the companies would receive tariff relief as part of the deal. Lilly said it would be exempt from the duty for three years.
Officials also said Novo and Lilly would receive fast-track regulatory vouchers for some of their future drugs.
Novo's Wegovy and Lilly's Zepbound are the only highly effective GLP-1 weight loss drugs sold primarily in the US as weekly injections. List prices top out at $1,000 a month, though both offer cash buyers monthly shipping of $499.
Novo Nordisk has committed to an additional $10 billion investment in the U.S., according to a White House fact sheet.
Lilly said the agreement will improve access to drugs for nearly 40 million Americans covered by government insurance programs, as well as millions more who pay out-of-pocket.
It said it will add its diabetes drugs — Emgality, Trulicity and Mounjaro — to its direct-to-consumer platform, offering them at 50 percent to 60 percent below their current list prices.
Wall Street reacted
Analysts at Deutsche Bank saw the deal as a potential catalyst for Lilly's growth. An estimated $150 monthly cap could unlock access for up to 15 million Americans when applied to orforglipron, its experimental diet pill that succeeded in a late-stage trial.
Deutsche Bank said increased uptake would come from the roughly 20 percent of obese adults who would prefer pills to needles. About 2.7 million Americans currently take Lilly's injectable Zepbound, it said.
Lilly and Novo are racing to bring GLP-1 oral treatments to market. Novo's once-daily oral Wegovy is under review by the Food and Drug Administration with a decision expected later this year, while Lilly's orforgliprone is set for a regulatory submission by the end of the year and a potential launch in 2026.
BMO Capital analyst Evan Sagerman said Lilly's dominance in the GLP-1 space continues to deepen, with doctors and patients increasingly favoring its drugs.
Pfizer and AstraZeneca previously signed new pricing agreements related to the TrumpRx platform.
On Wall Street, shares of Novo Nordisk fell 3.6 percent from the market open. Eli Lilly was relatively unchanged, up just 0.03 percent. Shares in Pfizer were up 1 percent and AstraZeneca were up 3.4 percent by 2:00 p.m. in New York (19:00 GMT).
