(Reuters) -Novo Nordisk is offering self-paying U.S. patients who are new to its weight-loss drug Wegovy their first month of medicine for $199 until June 30, the Danish drugmaker said on Thursday, aiming to curb sales of compounded drugs or copies of the drug.
The list price for Wegovy is over $1,000 a month but Novo has begun selling the popular weight-loss drug directly to U.S. consumers at a cash price of $499 a month.
The one-time, discounted offer of $199 is intended to help patients who have previously been prescribed unapproved or illicit drugs, the company said.
Patients will pay $499 per month from the second month onwards, it said.
Compounding pharmacies had been allowed to produce hundreds of thousands of doses of their versions of Novo’s obesity and diabetes drugs while the U.S. health regulator said the medicines were in short supply.
Larger so-called outsourcing facilities, which make compounded drugs in bulk, have been given until May 22 to cease making the drug.
(Reporting by Sriparna Roy in Bengaluru; Editing by Shilpi Majumdar and Savio D’Souza)
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