Ozempic and Wegovy arrive at a costco near you.
Novo Nordisk, the company that manufactures Ozempic and Wegovy, announced on Friday that it would sell injectable pens on prescription in pharmacies of the warehouse chain. A four -week supply of weight loss medication will cost $ 499 in his pocket.
Novo Nordisk already sells the monthly offer for $ 499 on its direct consumer website, and it offers the same discount via CVS and Walmart.
Novo Nordisk and other manufacturers of extremely popular weight loss drugs have concluded composition pharmacies, certain clinics and medical spas that sell cheaper versions of brand medicines.
“We want to make sure that we offer the real and authentic Wegovy and Ozempic where patients are asking for care,” David Moore, president of Novo Nordisk US, told NBC News. “We know that Costco is a brand of trust.”
Costco members with a prescription will pay $ 499 for one month’s supply. The members of the executive and those who have Credibank Credibank Credibank also obtain a reward for money as part of the channel’s prescription program.
For members who have insurance, the price will depend on their plan.
Reduced prices will be available in more than 600 Costco Nationwide pharmacies from Friday.
Recent research on drugs has shown their potential to reduce the risk of stroke, treat liver disease and protect heart health.
Dr. Rekha Kumar, endocrinologist at Weill Cornell Medicine and main medical advisor at Found Health, said that drugs have been a great breakthrough in the treatment of diabetes, but they are still out of reach for many people who are not insured or whose insurance will not cover prescriptions.
“This will certainly improve one of the access problems, which means that there is another place where people can get the medication you know is not their retail pharmacy, is not an online remote charter pharmacy, but a department store to whom many people in the United States go,” she said, even if it will not “solve the problems of insurance and cost coverage”. “”
In 2024, 13 states covered GLP-1 drugs for the treatment of obesity, according to KFF, a research group on non-partisan health policies. About 1 out of 8 adults says they used a GLP-1 agonist.
“Patients who have coverage will receive the medication on average for $ 25 per month,” said Moore de Novo Nordisk. “But that doesn’t cover everyone, so we wanted to make sure there was also a self-payment option.”
According to Goodrx, around 1 in 5 people with private insurance has no coverage for at least a brand GLP-1 medication.
Dr. Harlan Krumholz, cardiologist and professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, said that he was happy to see more accessibility for drugs, but they do not reach people who need it most if they cannot pay $ 499 per month.
“People who have the greatest need for these drugs are precisely the people who are in lower socioeconomic layers who have either poor insurance or without insurance, and do not have discretionary funds to spend on medication,” he said.
“If we really want to make the biggest difference on the health of the nation, we must make sure that people who benefit the most have access to drugs that are beneficial.”
CLARIFICATION (October 3, 2025, PM and): This article has been updated to clarify that the members of the executive and the holders of Citibank credit cards are also eligible for a reward for money, not a 2%discount, when purchasing weight loss drugs.
