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Tuesday, 31 March 2026 |
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| Netflix. Amazon Prime. Spotify. Wegovy? |
| On Tuesday, Novo Nordisk said it will start offering subscriptions to its Wegovy shots and pills, in what seems to be a first for the drug industry. |
| To us, it feels like the next evolution in pharma's direct-to-consumer model. And for Novo and Eli Lilly's weight-loss drugs, those strategies have been changing fast. Take a look at what they've done since the drugs launched: |
- Offered vials at a reduced price.
- Lowered cash-pay rates overall, for auto-injecting pens and now Wegovy pills.
- Set up the direct-to-consumer platforms Lilly Direct and NovoCare Pharmacy offering cash rates, then partnering with telehealth providers that once competed against them.
- Finding ways to get those cash prices to employers as well.
- … and now subscriptions.
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| (If you have tips on what’s coming next, we absolutely want to know — Message Shelby, or reach out to her on Signal.) |
| One of the big takeaways I got from talking with Shelby about the subscription news is that it’s a pitch to help people stay on the weight loss medication for a longer period of time, ideally cutting down the financial reasons to stop. |
| A year or so from now, I’ll be checking to see if it worked — and if anyone else in the pharma industry has decided to test out "subscribe & save" for themselves. |
- Lydia
P.S. - If you like reading Endpoints News and want to see more of us on Google, set us as a preferred source here! It's a big help, and it takes no time at all. |
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Quote of the week
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“What GLP-1s and the consumer cash pay market are doing is driving this rewiring of the healthcare system to orient far more to a consumer world.” |
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Ro CEO Zachariah Reitano |
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This week in health Тech |
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Jimini Health raised $17 million in seed funding to build patient-facing AI for behavioral health organizations. M13, Town Hall Ventures, LionBird, Zetta Venture Partners and OneMind invested. The company plans to focus on partnering with hospitals and clinics to use AI in between therapy sessions, CEO and co-founder Luis Voloch told Ngai. (We previously covered the company in 2024 when it launched.) |
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Mevo, an electronic prescribing startup in Brazil, raised $18 million in a round led by Prosus. Ngai covered the company’s Series B round back in 2024. Mevo is also backed by investment firm Matrix where PillPack cofounder TJ Parker is a partner. |
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Worldwide made. Thanks for reading.
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