The news: Novo Nordisk launched a direct-to-consumer (D2C) online platform and pharmacy, dubbed NovoCare Pharmacy. The drugmaker is also slashing the price of Wegovy to $499 per month for cash-pay patients using NovoCare—a steep drop from a $1,349 per month list price. NovoCare customers will get their medicines fulfilled and shipped to their homes by CenterWell Pharmacy.
Zooming out on Big Pharma’s D2C push: Novo joins Eli Lilly and Pfizer, who also recently launched D2C initiatives. The drugmakers hope to attract new customers by offering easier access to treatments and services that don’t require insurance approvals.
But NovoCare is taking a different approach by not directly partnering with telehealth providers to prescribe Wegovy. Lilly and Pfizer are being scrutinized by a group of US senators who are concerned that telehealth clinicians who work with the pharma companies will be incentivized to prescribe their drugs even if they’re not medically necessary.