Novo impressed investors by launching a weight loss pill in the US. What are its competitors doing?

Wegovy, a weight loss drug from Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, which previously enjoyed outstanding commercial success in injectable form, is now available in tablet form. It is the first GLP-1 class weight loss drug approved in the US in this form. Investors reacted positively to the news, with Novo's share price jumping more than 5%. Shares in competitors Eli Lilly and Viking, on the other hand, fell sharply. The launch of the tablet version of Wegovy essentially unleashes a price war between manufacturers of obesity drugs, according to the Financial Times.

Novo Nordisk shares rose 5% in trading in Copenhagen on January 5. The company's American depositary receipts jumped 5.2% to $55.1, their highest price since October. Investors reacted positively to the news of the release of a tablet version of the weight loss drug Wegovy. Previously, it was only available in injectable form.

Shares of rival US companies Eli Lilly and Viking, which have not yet managed to release their drugs in oral form, fell by 3.6% and 9.3%, respectively.

In the third phase of the study, patients receiving the maximum dose of Wegovy tablets lost an average of 17% of their body weight over 64 weeks, the company reported following the trial results.

The pills come in four doses and are cheaper than the shot, MarketWatch says. Patients can get the starting doses of Wegovy—1.5 mg and 4 mg—for $149 a month until April, when the price will go up to $199. For those with health insurance, the price may be as low as $25 per month. Higher doses — 9 mg and 25 mg — will cost $299 for a month's supply. However, when purchased through TrumpRx, a new website for selling drugs created by the Trump administration, the price will be $150 per month.

The announced prices marked the beginning of a new race to attract overweight and obese patients, writes the FT. The cost of the tablet version of Wegovy is significantly lower than that of the injectable form from both Novo and Eli Lilly, the publication notes. Currently, both injectable drugs — Wegovy and Zepbound — cost more than $1,000 per month, but after the launch of the TrumpRx website, the price will drop to about $350 per month.

Wegovy tablets hit the market at a time of structural change in the US pharmaceutical industry, explains MarketWatch. At the end of last year, a number of pharmaceutical companies signed an agreement with the White House to reduce prices in exchange for the inclusion of drugs in health insurance programs and the abolition of tariffs.

Demand for new forms of weight loss drugs remains high, especially for oral medications, as well as for drugs with fewer side effects on the stomach and without muscle loss. Eli Lilly expects the government regulator to make a decision on the registration of its obesity pill orforglipron in the first quarter of this year. This is not a tablet version of Zepbound, but a new GLP-1 class drug. Its price through TrumpRx will be $346 per month. Viking Therapeutics' oral drug is currently in phase III clinical trials.

This article was AI-translated and verified by a human editor