President Donald Trump announced on Thursday that the government has reached agreements with Eli Lilly (LLY) and Novo Nordisk (NVO) to significantly reduce the prices of some weight-loss drugs, including upcoming oral medications. This move aims to curb high drug prices in the United States and is seen as one of the most politically significant announcements to date under the Trump administration’s “Most Favored Nation” policy.
According to the agreement, starting in 2026, Medicare and Medicaid patients with obesity and other conditions (such as prediabetes or heart failure) will gain access to GLP-1 drugs like Eli Lilly’s Zepbound and Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy at significantly reduced prices. The list price for these drugs will be lowered to approximately $245 per month, with out-of-pocket costs for Medicare patients as low as $50. Simultaneously, these drugs will also be sold directly to consumers at discounted prices via the TrumpRx.gov website, scheduled to launch next January.
Furthermore, for the upcoming oral weight-loss drugs from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, once approved, the starting dose price will be standardized at $145 per month across Medicare, Medicaid, or TrumpRx channels. For existing injectable products like Wegovy and Zepbound, the starting price on TrumpRx will be $350 per month but will “step down” to $245 over two years. President Trump stated that this move would end the situation where consumers previously had to pay over $1,000 per month.
This agreement means that, starting mid-2026, Medicare will, for the first time in history, reimburse GLP-1 drugs for weight loss for some patients. Analysis suggests this will expand the market for such drugs and may encourage more private insurance plans to offer coverage. The impact of Medicare coverage is particularly significant as the program covers approximately 66 million people.
Approximately 10% of Medicare beneficiaries will be eligible for these drugs. Eligible patients are primarily divided into three categories: The first includes those who are overweight with prediabetes or cardiovascular disease; the second includes those with obesity alongside uncontrolled hypertension, kidney disease, or heart failure; and the third includes those with severe obesity. A government official emphasized that this move strikes a balance between expanding access and ensuring clinical benefit.
As part of the agreement, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk made several commitments, including guaranteeing Most Favored Nation pricing for all newly launched drugs in the future, providing this pricing to state Medicaid programs, and offering competitive prices on TrumpRx. On the same day, Eli Lilly also announced an additional price cut for Zepbound on its own direct-to-consumer platform, LillyDirect, with the price for the lowest dose of its oral drug starting at $149 per month after approval.
Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks called this agreement “a pivotal moment for U.S. healthcare policy.” Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar also stated that this would allow more American patients to access their semaglutide-based drugs at lower costs.
