Lilly, Novo to Lower Obesity Drug Prices in Deal With Trump

(Bloomberg) — Eli Lilly & Co. (LLY) and Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) secured deals with the Trump administration to slash prices for their blockbuster weight-loss drugs in exchange for tariff relief and wider access for Medicare patients.

The deals with Lilly and Novo, announced Thursday at a White House event with President Donald Trump, will make some of the most popular drugs in the world available to certain people on Medicare, the government health plan for older Americans, according to senior administration officials.

The companies’ products will receive a three-year grace period from Trump’s forthcoming duties on pharmaceutical imports, an official said, similar terms to those clinched by their rivals in previous drug-price deals.

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“It’s a triumph for American patients that will save lives and improve the health of millions and millions of Americans,” Trump told reporters in the Oval Office.

The announcement comes days after Democrats soundly defeated candidates from Trump’s Republican Party in a series of off-year elections, in which the cost of living was a central issue. The Thursday event gives Trump a platform to demonstrate he’s focused on lowering prices for strapped American consumers who have panned his handling of the economy, polls show.

Historically, Medicare has been barred from covering weight-loss drugs. Starting next year, Medicare and Medicaid patients with obesity who also have other health conditions, including prediabetes and heart failure, will be able to purchase Zepbound and Wegovy for $245 a month, the officials said. The co-pay for Medicare patients is $50 per month.

Medicare was already paying for Wegovy for some patients with heart conditions.

The shot from Lilly will also be available at a cash-pay price of $299 a month for the lowest dose directly through the company, it said in a statement. Lilly was already offering starting doses of its medication Zepbound at that price to people through its own platform, called LillyDirect. Novo sells Wegovy for $499 a month via its own platform, called NovoCare.

The drugs’ current US list prices are more than $1,000 a month.

“Novo Nordisk has always worked to secure affordable access to our innovative medicines, and today’s announcement will bring semaglutide medicines to more American patients at a lower cost,” Mike Doustdar, chief executive officer of Novo Nordisk, said in a statement.

Lilly Chief Executive Officer Dave Ricks in a statement called the announcement “a pivotal moment in US health care policy” that was “made possible through collaboration with the Trump Administration.”

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Under the agreement, the drugmakers will also get fast-track reviews of their forthcoming weight-loss pills. The lowest doses of those pills, once approved, will cost $149 a month, according to the officials and the companies. Both companies have said they expect to launch their pills next year and have promised to manufacture them in the US.

The agreement follows similar moves from Pfizer Inc., AstraZeneca Plc and Germany’s Merck KGaA to stave off more draconian regulations and parry sharp criticism from Trump and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.

Trump Deals

Over the summer, Trump sent letters to 17 drugmakers, including Eli Lilly and Pfizer, with a list of demands. He insisted they lower the prices they charge Medicaid — the health insurance program for low-income and disabled people — as well as sell discounted medicines directly to patients and offer new drugs in the US at the same price available in other developed nations.

Ricks has been among the most visible pharmaceutical executives interacting with Trump during his second term, and the president in April called him a “great guy.” Ricks has also drawn compliments from Kennedy, despite the secretary being hostile toward the pharmaceutical industry overall.

Ricks has been representing the sector with the administration since before Trump’s return to the White House. He joined Pfizer Chief Executive Officer Albert Bourla at a dinner with Trump and his top officials before inauguration at Trump’s Palm Beach club.

In February, Lilly was one of the first drugmakers to announce a major investment in US manufacturing at a splashy event in Washington that was attended by key cabinet members, including Secretary of Commerce Howard Lutnick. The push to onshore manufacturing was already underway at Lilly, which has been investing heavily to boost production capacity for Zepbound and Mounjaro, its top-selling weight-loss and diabetes treatments.

Novo’s chief executives had kept a lower profile. The Danish drug manufacturer, however, pledged billions in US investment, including a $4.1 billion factory expansion begun last year in North Carolina.

Novo has been losing ground to Lilly in the ultra-competitive US market. The Danish drugmaker said earlier this week it had reached a deal with the US to cut prices for Ozempic, Wegovy and its older diabetes pill Rybelsus for some Medicare patients in 2027.

—With assistance from Skylar Woodhouse and Lauren Dezenski.

©2025 Bloomberg L.P.

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