As costs of weight loss drugs like Wegovy and Zepbound go down, how low can prices go?

The price of drug loss is low.

Wegovy and Zepbound, which Both sell a list of more than $ 1,000 per monthFor a long time, out of reach of people without insurance or who refused to insurance cover them. Among the adults taking medications, about half of them say it is difficult to bear the cost, according to May 2024 Survey by the KFF Health Policy Group.

Over the past few months, Novo Nordisk and El Lilly has provided low -cost options. There are some warnings – people must pay from the pocket, or The drug is sold in a pre -filled intoile pen But doctors and patients say the changes have long been late.

“The cost has decreased significantly,” said Dr. Biminda Kabandogama, an endocrinologist at Cleveland Clinic in Ohio.

Self -paying options

In March, Novo Nordsek Reducing the price of all Wegovy doses by 23 % for people who pay cashDriving it from $ 650 to $ 499 per month for unbelievable patients or those who have no coverage. (The menu price remains $ 1,349 as it is.)

It follows a similar step from Eli Lily, which Zepbound beginning dose decreased to $ 349 and up to $ 499 Through the self -payment program, Lilly Direct. Disclosure doses require manually drawing the drug from the bottle with a syringe, adding an additional step compared to the pre -filled injectors.

Experts refer to many forces that lead low prices: MPressure from the audience and Congress On the practices of pharmaceutical makers; Competition from pharmacies, spas med and weight loss clinics Cheapest versions of the drug Although it is expected that the gradual disposal of this month is expected to be eliminated; The Food and Drug Administration approves a general version of VictoZa, an older GLP-1 drug that can start at a cost of about $ 350 for one month. The year, which is called LIRAGLUTIDE, is taken daily, unlike Wegovy and Zepbound, which is taken weekly.

Kabandoga said that many of his patients usually pay about $ 1500 per month outside his pocket against the names of the Wegovy brands, but in recent months they have managed to get itself for about $ 400 a month or higher for $ 500. Others have turned from complex versions to brand medications.

He said: “Many patients were thinking,” I pay this amount for the vehicle. I couldn’t switch to unified versions. ”Now, we have a brand version at the same cost.”

Shakira Grant, 41, from North Carolina, started using Lilly’s Self-Pay for Zepbound earlier this month after changing her insurance, which made her not eligible to obtain the company’s voucher card.

GRANT was on GLP-1 for three years-first mounjaro, then Zepbound. (both of them Contains the same active ingredient Tirzepatide.

Without a self -payment program, Grant said she would have stopped taking the medicine because her insurance was not covered, and she could not bear the cost of more than $ 1,000.

She said it is not the best solution. Since Lilly does not provide all zepbound doses through Lilly Direct, she had to reduce her dose from 15 milligrams to 10 mg. It also found the process of drawing a drug from a bottle, which was represented after years of using the pre -filled injectors. She said she hopes to be cheaper but she is ready to pay the price.

“If there is no backup option, I would have left a difficult decision,” Grant said. “Either I tried to carry $ 1,000 per month or go without a cold drug Türkiye after I was on it for three years.”

Extensive approvals

Experts say patients have begun to pay less than a pocket not only because of low prices, but also because of improving insurance coverage. Extensive approval of medications for conditions exceeding diabetes and weight loss – including Risk of heart diseaseand LuiguviAnd Sleep breathing, for zepbound I also convinced more insurance companies to cover them, Cabandoga said.

Elizabeth Kenley, 59, from Graham, North Carolina, said she asked her doctor this month to know if her insurance would cover Zepbound to stop breathing during sleep.

Kenley used to use a vehicle version of Zepbound, and paid about $ 600 a month. But if it is agreed to secure the brand name, its monthly cost may decrease to less than $ 25.

Kenley said: “The savings, if covered with insurance, will change life,” Kenley said. “I still pay the equivalent of a monthly care batch even with the complex version.”

Dr. Louis Aaron, professor of metabolic research at Will Cornell Medicine, said he noticed even in recent months that pharmacies began to reduce the prices of weight loss. Aaron works as a major medical consultant at Vero, a company that develops a trimming drug for weight loss, and was the main investigator in the Laila Terzopatide experience.

“They really started competing,” he said.

It is still a high cost

However, barriers remain: $ 400 to $ 500 is a large amount of money for many people.

Dr. David Rind, the primary care doctor and chief medical official of the Clinical and Economic Review Institute, a group that determines the fair prices of medicines, said, a group that determines the fair prices of medicines,

“If the insurance depends on the fact that not covering it will allow people to buy it from her pocket, as an initial care doctor, I have a lot of concerns about this,” said Rennd.

“This is actually a great drug,” he said. “Despite all I have a complaint about the price, these are medications that we must want to provide to many people, but it was really difficult to see how we could bear their costs.”

RIND said he does not expect prices to drop anytime – not even Other medicines are approved in developmentIt will most likely not happen for another few years.

Entering low -price options and expanding insurance coverage is not always a victory for patients.

Earlier this month, CVS CAREMARK announced It will now cover Wegovy according to pharmacy entitlements – but it will not cover Zepbound anymore.

A study published in the New England magazine found this month Zepbound excelled Wegovy In a face -to -face clinical trial.

This step has caused social media among people who take Zepbound who do not want to switch to Wegovy.

“This decision depends on the economy, not clinical evidence, not in the interest of patients,” said Dr. Christopher McGuan, who runs a weight loss clinic in Carrie, North Carolina, a Grant doctor.

He added that disrupting the patient’s treatment can have severe consequences. It may restore weight, and see a slowdown in weight loss or developing new side effects.

“For patients who have seen viable results with Zepbound, loss of access may feel a devastating loss, such as losing a lifeline,” McGuan said.