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Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk Stocks Drop. Trump Targets Ozempic, ‘Fat Loss’ Drug Prices.

Oct 17, 2025 07:18:00 -0400 by Elsa Ohlen | #Biotech and Pharma

Ozempic and Wegovy are Novo Nordisk’s best-selling drugs by far. (SEBASTIEN BOZON/AFP via Getty Images)

Key Points

Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk stocks fell sharply early Friday after President Donald Trump suggested the price of blockbuster weight-loss medicines could come down substantially.

Novo Nordisk’s American depositary receipts (ADRs) fell 3.4% to $54.18 in morning trading, while Lilly shares were down 2.2% to $801.24.

Trump told reporters late Thursday that the list price of Novo’s Ozempic, which he called “the fat-loss drug,” will be “much lower.”

The head of Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Mehmet Oz, quickly clarified that price negotiations about weight-loss and diabetes drugs hadn’t been negotiated yet.

“But it will,” Trump said. “I think those are going to come down pretty fast.”

Ozempic is among the drugs selected by the CMS for price negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act.

The president suggested the price of a month’s supply of Ozempic, currently at a list price of about $1,000 and sold directly to consumers for $499, could be reduced to $150.

Trump’s comments come amid a wider push to lower drug prices for Americans, which are higher than in similarly wealthy countries.

In May, Trump signed an executive order aimed at pushing pharmaceutical companies to lower U.S. prices to so-called Most Favored Nation (MFN) pricing, through which prices are no higher than the lowest price paid in a comparable country.

A Novo Nordisk spokesperson said it had engaged in discussions with the U.S. administration regarding the MFN order.

“We remain focused on improving patient access and affordability, and we will continue to work to find solutions that help people access the medication they need,” Novo said.

Ozempic is a medicine for Type 2 diabetes, which targets a gut hormone that regulates blood sugar levels and enhances feelings of fullness. Wegovy, which contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic, is sold for weight-loss.

Eli Lilly makes the rival drugs Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight-loss, which work in similar ways to Novo’s treatments.

Lilly also said it is in discussions with the administration to ensure affordability of its drugs. “With respect to comments made at the White House press conference yesterday, we are not aware of any specific price commitments,” a spokesperson told Barron’s in emailed comments.

Novo stock is down more than 60% since peaking in mid-2024 on investor optimism that the so-called GLP-1 drugs would revolutionize the space. Since then, the hype has moderated and analysts have trimmed their estimates of the future size of the weight-loss drug market.

Novo has cut its growth forecasts amid increased competition in the U.S. market from both Lilly and cheaper copycat versions of its drugs. The Danish company also ousted its long-serving CEO earlier this year amid a struggling share price and initiated cost-cutting efforts.

Lilly shares have held up slightly better, down 18% since its record high in August of 2024.

The next frontier in the race for market dominance is weight-loss pills, which are expected to be favored by consumers as well as easier to distribute worldwide than the currently available injections. Novo’s “Wegovy-in-a-pill” could hit the markets as soon as next year if approved by the Food and Drug Administration. Lilly’s pill orforglipron could follow shortly after.

Write to Elsa Ohlen at elsa.ohlen@barrons.com