Novo Nordisk CEO Mike Doustdar on Wednesday stated the corporate is aiming to seize round 15 million new sufferers, no less than initially, when Medicare begins protecting weight problems remedies for the primary time later this yr.
Round 67 million Individuals are coated by Medicare, however “whenever you check out particularly our merchandise and the goal group, I believe round 15 million individuals can be a great quantity to focus on,” he advised CNBC in an interview.
Medicare is slated to start out protecting weight problems medicines for the primary time later this yr below the landmark “most-favored-nation” drug pricing offers that Novo and its chief rival, Eli Lilly, struck with President Donald Trump in November.
Well being consultants say the long-awaited protection might broaden the marketplace for the medicines and spur extra non-public insurers to cowl them. Some consultants estimate that 20 million to 30 million Medicare sufferers are affected by weight problems and associated circumstances.
Doustdar stated Medicare protection, together with the launch of Novo’s new weight problems tablet and different components, ought to assist the corporate steadily enhance prescription volumes and offset decrease costs within the U.S. following that settlement with Trump.
However he stated he would not count on Medicare entry to weight problems remedies to open up in a single day.
“Now, it might be nice if we might discover a strategy to get entry very, very quick. However I believe that may be a bit naive,” Doustdar stated, pointing to the gradual adoption seen amongst eligible sufferers with industrial insurance coverage.
It is a barely extra conservative tone on the preliminary impression of Medicare protection in contrast with Lilly, which has cited that protection as a key tail wind to its steerage this yr. Final week, Lilly stated it expects Medicare protection to come back on-line by July.
In the meantime, Doustdar stated Novo is within the midst of negotiations with the federal government on “precisely which month, which week that’s going to be opening.”
Closing the market share hole
Novo is below strain to claw again market share within the booming GLP-1 area from Lilly and cheaper, compounded copycats. Final week, Lilly stated its share of the U.S. weight problems and diabetes drug market elevated to 60.5% within the fourth quarter, whereas Novo’s was 39.1%.
Novo has additionally highlighted a niche within the “choice share” for its weight reduction therapy Wegovy versus Lilly’s rival injections. Within the U.S., Novo estimates that between 7 and eight sufferers out of 10 go to Lilly.
When requested how Novo plans to shut that hole, Doustdar stated a technique to take action is “to do higher on the tablet.” The corporate’s Wegovy weight problems tablet has a head begin in contrast with Lilly’s upcoming oral drug, orforglipron, which is predicted to win approval from the Meals and Drug Administration in the course of the second quarter.
Mike Doustdar, left, CEO of Novo Nordisk, and David Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, pay attention as President Donald Trump speaks within the Oval Workplace throughout an occasion about weight-loss medicine on Nov. 6, 2025.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds | Afp | Getty Pictures
Doustdar stated Novo’s tablet is barely more practical than Lilly’s based mostly on separate medical trials, exhibiting 16.6% weight reduction in contrast with 12.4% with Lilly’s oral drug.
“In the event you use these two numbers, mainly you’ve got a 40% distinction between the efficacy of those tablets,” he stated. “I believe that is going to be a really most important, most important promoting level of the tablet.”
However Doustdar additionally pointed to the upcoming approval and launch of a better dose – 7.2 milligram – of Wegovy that might assist win market share from Lilly’s weight problems therapy Zepbound.
That greater dose helps sufferers lose round 21% of their weight, which is “very a lot on par” with the best dose of Zepbound, he stated. Zepbound’s greater efficacy has been a key consider driving extra sufferers and prescribers away from selecting Wegovy, which has proven round 15% weight reduction on common in medical trials.
“When that involves the market, my thought, my want, my hope is that individuals will understand, OK, now we have now two merchandise with related efficacy,” he stated.
