Overview
- Novo Nordisk announced a targeted price reduction for brand-name Ozempic that will be delivered through a Novo Nordisk Savings Card for eligible Canadians without public or private drug coverage.
- The savings card is valid at local pharmacies across Canada except Quebec and will be applied automatically through Novo Nordisk Care Rx operated by Rexall.
- Health Canada recently approved generic semaglutide from Apotex and Dr. Reddy’s, and those generics have begun arriving in pharmacies with Apotex saying its product will cost about one-third of the brand price.
- Negotiations between the pan-Canadian Pharmaceutical Alliance and Novo Nordisk ended without an agreement after the manufacturer declined to negotiate, leaving manufacturers’ commercial programs and generics to drive near-term price changes.
- The move should lower out-of-pocket costs for many patients who pay privately for GLP-1 drugs, may prompt insurers and provinces to switch reimbursements to generics, and follows longstanding limits on public coverage for weight-management uses of semaglutide.