The news: Novo Nordisk debuted this week the first GLP-1 weight loss oral, Wegovy pill, with a $149 per month cash-pay price—the lowest for a GLP-1 weight loss drug price to date.

• The Wegovy pill is available on Novo’s own NovoCare direct-to-consumer (D2C) platform, as well as at more than 70,000 pharmacies and select telehealth providers.
• Cash-pay patients can get the 1.5 mg and 4 mg doses for $149 per month through mid-April with a prescription. After that, the 4 mg dose will increase to $199, while the 9 mg and 25 mg doses will cost $299 per month.
• Its chief competitor Eli Lilly is readying its own GLP-1 weight loss pill, orforglipron, currently under expedited FDA review, with a decision expected in March.

Why it matters: Telehealth companies will become even more important in the emerging oral drug market as consumers seek more convenient and affordable options.

Novo’s eight telehealth partners for its Wegovy pill, including Ro, GoodRx, LifeMD, Knownwell, and Weight Watchers, will broadly expand online access to the new medicine. However, GLP-1 compounder Hims & Hers is not included, although Hims did say in November that it was in discussions with Novo to offer oral Wegovy when approved.

Telehealth companies add on services, like insurance navigation and coaching programs, to help ensure patient adherence and success. A recent real-world, post-market study of 4,500 Ro telehealth patients who were taking semaglutide—the active ingredient in Wegovy, Ozempic, and Wegovy pill—for weight loss showed an average 16.6% loss of body weight after 68 weeks, comparable to Novo’s clinical trial results.

Telehealth companies helped raise awareness of GLP-1 injectable drugs via co-branding and will likely do the same for the new pills. Ro, for example, spurred social media buzz with its New York subway and transit ads touting Wegovy in 2023 and more recently with its TV and social media campaign with tennis superstar Serena Williams talking about her use of Eli Lilly’s Zepbound.

Implications for telehealth companies: Online healthcare access is key to growing the oral weight loss drug market, but with prescription prices largely equalized, telehealth service providers’ competitive advantage will come down to marketing and value-added services.

Telehealth providers must move beyond offering simple access to GLP-1s through these service layers:

• Navigating prior authorization: Some telehealth providers are already leaning into this by handling patients by handling prior authorizations and denial appeals with data, providing a level of service that basic pharmacy fulfillment does not.
• Integration with employer benefits: Telehealth platforms that can sync with an individual’s specific employer benefits can find the lowest out-of-pocket cost versus straight cash-pay prices.
• Behavioral support and expertise: Companies like Noom and Weight Watchers are already integrating GLP-1 prescription use into their existing psychology-based weight loss programs to help patients succeed beyond the pill.
• Adaptive customer service: Telehealth services are moving from simply offering refills to AI-assisted recommendations using patient data to suggest things like medication adjustments or nutritionist consultations, making them feel like a partner, not just a fulfillment service.

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