Maryland's state board places a price cap on Ozempic
Maryland's Prescription Drug Affordability Board has voted unanimously to impose a binding price cap on the diabetes drug Ozempic for patients covered by state insurance plans. STAT News reports that the move is the first state-level price intervention against the GLP-1 drug class in the United States.
The new cap is set at 87 US dollars a month for Ozempic purchases reimbursed through state plans. The current list price, set by manufacturer Novo Nordisk in the United States, was around 968 dollars. The cap therefore represents a net reduction of about 91 per cent.
The decision was taken by the board chaired by Andrew York. In a press statement, York said: "Maryland residents should have reasonable access to this medicine at a price that does not bear an unjustifiable distance from the underlying value."
The cap will apply to state employees, Medicaid (the state-administered portion) and members of the state retirement system's insurance plans. Roughly 1.4 million people are expected to be covered. Private-sector insurance plans and federal Medicare plans are outside its scope.
Novo Nordisk responded to the decision with a statement saying that "unilateral price intervention by Maryland does not replace the negotiation process that supports patient access." The company added that it is reviewing whether to pursue legal action.
Drug-policy specialists spoken to by STAT News said the move could create a model for other states. Colorado, Oregon, Washington, Minnesota and Massachusetts all have similar Drug Affordability Boards in place. Maryland is the first to issue an actual price cap.
Ozempic contains the active compound semaglutide and is approved for the treatment of type 2 diabetes. The same compound is sold under the Wegovy brand for weight loss. US sales of Ozempic were 18.7 billion dollars in 2024 and rose to 23.4 billion dollars in 2025. The company expects global revenue from the drug of around 41 billion dollars.
One immediate concern is the cap's effect on supply. Following the supply bottleneck Novo Nordisk experienced last year in the US, some experts worry that price control could weaken manufacturing incentives.
Dr Rita Olsen of Devon-Adair Pharma Consulting told STAT News: "This is not a ceiling, it is a class-opener. Maryland's cap puts pressure on other states to act, but it does not pre-empt Medicare negotiation at the federal level."
The ruling will take effect after a 90-day appeal window. The first billing cycle under the new cap is expected to begin in September 2026. Federally, the Trump administration's "TrumpRx" initiative continues separate efforts to negotiate discounts on some GLP-1 drugs.