The price cut applies to the 1.7 mg and 2.4 mg doses, which are used for most of the treatment period to achieve and maintain weight loss. Depending on dose, this means savings of around SEK 500 or more per month. Because Wegovy falls outside Sweden’s reimbursement system, pharmacies set their own retail prices.

“Obesity is a serious chronic disease, and the cost of medication can be a barrier for many people today. By lowering the price by 20%, we are making it easier for people to afford to stay on their treatment over time,” says Jørgen Kronborg Jungersen, CEO of Novo Sweden. “We of course hope that pharmacies will now introduce corresponding price cuts.”

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The price of access: Industry and regulators are at odds over Nordic drug costs

The ongoing struggle in the Nordic countries to keep prescription drug prices affordable without shutting out innovative, more expensive therapies continues to frustrate pharmaceutical companies as the introduction of new drugs to the region slows.

In parallel, Novo has submitted a renewed application to the Dental and Pharmaceutical Benefits Agency (TLV) for reimbursement of Wegovy for a smaller group of patients with severe obesity who are at high risk of serious complications.

More than half of Sweden’s adult population is overweight, and 17% – around 1.5 million people – have obesity. Estimates from the Swedish Institute for Health Economics (IHE) and the Public Health Agency of Sweden put the annual cost to society at SEK 85–125 billion.