Deep Dive: Novo Nordisk Slashes Ozempic and Wegovy Prices by 50% — What the GLP-1 Price War Means for Patients, Investors, and Big Pharma
Novo Nordisk dropped a bombshell on the pharmaceutical industry this week, announcing plans to cut the U.S. list prices of its blockbuster GLP-1 drugs — Wegovy, Ozempic, and Rybelsus — by up to 50% starting January 1, 2027. The new uniform list price of $675 per month, down from current prices ranging between $1,027 and $1,350, marks the most aggressive pricing move yet in the rapidly evolving obesity and diabetes drug market. The announcement sent Novo Nordisk shares tumbling to a fresh 52-week low of $37.65, extending a brutal decline that has erased roughly 75% of the stock's value since its mid-2024 peak. The price cuts arrive at a moment of acute vulnerability for the Danish drugmaker. Just days earlier, Novo reported disappointing results from its REDEFINE 4 trial pitting next-generation drug CagriSema against Eli Lilly's tirzepatide (Zepbound), sending shares down over 16% in a single session. With its market capitalization now sitting at roughly $169 billion — down from north of $600 billion at its zenith — Novo Nordisk is attempting a high-stakes pivot: sacrificing near-term pricing power to defend market share against an increasingly dominant Eli Lilly and a swarm of pharma giants preparing to enter the weight-loss arena. The implications extend far beyond one company's balance sheet. Novo's decision reshapes the economics of a drug category projected to exceed $150 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade, puts immediate pressure on Eli Lilly to respond, and could dramatically expand the patient population with affordable access to GLP-1 therapies. For investors, the question is whether this is a desperate retreat or a calculated long-term play.