Novo Nordisk diabetes pill gets FDA OK

Sept. 24, 2019

The FDA gave Novo Nordisk the go-ahead for a once-daily pill to treat diabetes. 

Novo Nordisk is hoping to shake up the diabetes market with the OSD treatment that could be especially attractive to patients with an aversion to needles. Although 70 percent of the diabetes treatments on the market are taken orally, Novo Nordisk’s new medicine, Rybelsus, is the only tablet that’s a part of the blockbuster class of GLP-1 drugs. 

Investors had raised concerns about Novo Nordisk jumping into the OSD space, where medications are typically priced cheaper. But the company assuaged investor concerns this week by pricing the tablet similar its once-weekly injectable version of the medication, which is about $800 a month.

Read the Reuters report.