White House secures deal on weight loss drugs

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(The Center Square) – The White House has secured another deal with major pharmaceutical companies, this time to offer popular weight loss drugs for less in some cases.

On Thursday, the administration announced from the Oval Office that, starting in 2026, popular weight loss drugs Zepbound and Wegovy will be covered for some patients under Medicare and Medicaid. The drugs’ manufacturers, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, have also agreed to sell Zepbound and Wegovy for reduced prices on the direct-to-consumer government website TrumpRx. TrumpRx is a kind of online marketplace where Americans can purchase prescription drugs at a reduced cost from the standard list price, if they don’t have or forgo using insurance. 

The White House has said Ozempic and Wegovy will “fall from $1,000 and $1,350 per month, respectively, to $350” when purchased through TrumpRx, and to an average of $346 for Zepbound and Orforglipron, if approved.

“It’s a triumph for American patients that will save lives and improve the health of millions and millions of Americans,” said President Donald Trump.

The drug manufacturers have also agreed to guarantee most-favored-nation pricing on all new medicines that they bring to market, meaning the lowest price among the U.S. and its economic peer countries, in alignment with an earlier executive order from the president. 

The drugs are known as GLP-1s. Originally prescribed for diabetes, doctors have begun prescribing them for weight loss, but they often aren’t covered by insurance when they are prescribed for that reason.

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk are the most recent pharmaceutical companies to offer medications on TrumpRx and at most-favored-nation pricing as part of an effort by the administration to reduce the cost of prescription drugs in the U.S. 

Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said Thursday’s deal was the biggest of the pharmaceutical deals the administration has announced so far, since the drugs have become so popular.

“This is the biggest drug in our country, and that’s why this is the most important of all the [most favored nation] announcements we’ve made,” Kennedy said. “This is going to have the biggest impact on the American people.”