Novo is testing tiered subscriptions to boost Wegovy adherence—but whether patients stay on their meds will hinge on post-prescription support from its telehealth partners.

Novo drops court fights to secure GLP-1 distribution, which will drive other telehealth brands to weigh pharma deals against legal risk.

The retailer is sidestepping in-person medical care and insurance complexities in hopes of turning pharmacy traffic into weight loss drug customers.

Drugmakers’ price drops don’t affect all patients the same. Brands and marketers must decode cost complexities where patients already seek out weight loss advice, like on social media.

Health influencers drive real behavior, but trust rests with doctors and patients. As creators gain reach, healthcare marketers must harness influence while protecting credibility, safety, and compliance in a high-risk category.

Tragic news moves consumers’ health choices, signaling to healthcare marketers that they need to pay attention to key cultural moments, not just paid celebrity endorsements.

The Eucalyptus deal deepens global reach as diversification beyond compounded GLP-1s in the US becomes urgent.

Healthcare and pharma marketers should ramp up social listening and host expert Ask Me Anything sessions to drive engagement without feeling intrusive.

Novo’s lawsuit and regulator warnings signal a crackdown on compounded GLP-1s across telehealth.

The cash-pay discount hub will offer fewer drugs than GoodRx and have limited reach, but drugmakers must still promote it to drive prescription volumes, especially for uninsured drugs.

Drugmakers could ease fears of transactional, unsupervised prescribing by collaborating with patients’ regular care teams.

Online healthcare companies are increasingly marketing GLP-1 prescriptions to people who aren't overweight or obese, according to a recent Bloomberg story. Federal regulators are starting to crack down on telehealth platforms for their compounded GLP-1 ads. So far, the FDA and FTC have targeted companies claiming their copycat weight loss drugs are the same as brand-name versions and that allegedly mislead consumers with misrepresented products and reviews. These actions could signal that the feds will next go after entities that advertise GLP-1s for unapproved uses, such as for cosmetic purposes for people whose BMI isn’t at least 27.

Among patients newly prescribed GLP-1s for obesity, 90% either never start therapy or discontinue within a year. Novo and Lilly are using their direct-to-consumer online pharmacies to improve adherence, giving them clearer insight into why patients don’t fill or refill prescriptions to offer targeted support. Beyond that, drugmakers should work with their telehealth partners and pharmacies to give patients resources on managing side effects, navigating insurance issues, and understanding why maintenance dosing remains important after achieving some weight loss.

Novo Nordisk is dropping the cash-pay price of its blockbuster GLP-1 drugs Wegovy and Ozempic from $499 per month to $349 for existing patients. Novo is betting on lower prices to lure some patients away from Zepbound. However, Lilly’s D2C strategy for Zepbound is working—the drugmaker said that about 35% of new Zepbound prescriptions are from the self-pay channel. It’s a signal that most patients who are prescribed Zepbound aren’t asking to switch to Wegovy. That could shift if the price gap between the two drugs widens.

Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly struck a deal with the Trump administration to lower GLP-1 prices in exchange for expanded Medicare and Medicaid coverage. It’s by far the most consequential pharma agreement to date For Novo and Lilly, it’s a tradeoff: lower prices for higher patient and prescription volume—a bet that should pay off over time, especially since tariff relief is part of the deal.

Novo Nordisk entered the escalating acquisition battle for Metsera with a rival offer of up to $9 billion, topping Pfizer's earlier $7.3 billion bid. The Metsersa takeover clash signals how difficult and costly it will be for some companies to enter the weight loss drug category through M&A. Developing novel obesity drugs that offer a significant advantage over current GLP-1s is challenging (see: Pfizer), but it could be the better option for some pharma firms that want to avoid potentially messy, drawn-out bidding wars.

Eli Lilly is offering cash-pay pricing for its weight loss drug Zepbound at Walmart. This is the first time Lilly has offered a retail pharmacy pick-up option to customers who order Zepbound through LillyDirect. Walmart will soon be the only retail pharmacy where customers paying cash for Novo’s and Lilly’s GLP-1 weight loss drugs can pick up their prescriptions. This will help the company benefit from increased foot traffic as more of Lilly’s customers enter its stores.

Consumers’ desire to find “better for you” versions of their favorite products is working in Coca-Cola’s favor. Sales of Coca-Cola Zero Sugar soared 14% YoY in Q2, while Diet Coke sales grew 2%. Reconfiguring CPG portfolios for the MAHA (Make American Healthy Again) and GLP-1 consumer may be less daunting than brands think. Shoppers are extremely receptive at the moment to products with purported health benefits—so rather than rolling out high-protein versions of every product, companies should look for ways to emphasize the health or functional benefits of their existing assortment.

Novo Nordisk is partnering with Costco to offer the retailer’s members Ozempic and Wegovy for $499 per month, or about half off what the medications cost patients without insurance. Novo tapping into Costco’s customer base of over 100 million US cardholders is a savvy play, especially considering that Costco members skew toward higher-income compared with shoppers generally. Novo and Costco can specifically market to new mothers and families broadly who may be struggling with weight gain due to their busy lives.

GoodRx is partnering with Kroger pharmacies to roll out a medication savings program for branded drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy. Kroger has a great opportunity to market healthy food offerings through its grocery business to people picking up GLP-1 prescriptions at its pharmacy. This might involve pharmacist-led medication management, tailored marketing for store products that support GLP-1 use (e.g., high-protein, low-calorie, fiber-rich), and access to nutrition guidance and resources.