The device could cost less than injections, but coverage stays unclear in a US$100 billion GLP-1 market
By
Freschia Gonzales
Jul 14, 2026
Roughly half or more of patients who start GLP-1 medications stop within a year and risk regaining the weight they lost which pointed to research published in JAMA Network Open.
According to CNBC, side effects, high out-of-pocket costs, injection fatigue and stigma around obesity treatment all drive that dropout.
That adherence gap now sits behind an agreement Novo Nordisk signed with California biotech Vivani Medical to evaluate NPM-139, an experimental semaglutide implant designed for long-term weight management.
Semaglutide is the active ingredient in Novo’s Wegovy and Ozempic, and Vivani positions the implant as a maintenance option for patients who have already reached an appropriate dose through injections or pills, as per CNBC.
Neither company disclosed financial terms, and both said the deal carries no exclusivity provisions, according to Vivani’s press release.
In a statement to CNBC, Novo Nordisk confirmed the agreement and said it aims to complement its internal research with external innovation.
Adam Mendelsohn, Vivani’s president and chief executive officer, said the pact is not a licensing deal but called it a “good validation for where we are and where this product could ultimately end up.”
For plan sponsors and insurers, the open questions are cost and coverage.
Vivani has not set a price and does not yet know whether payers would cover the device if regulators approve it, CNBCreported, which makes its potential sales hard to gauge in a GLP-1 market some analysts expect could top US$100bn by the early 2030s.
Mendelsohn told the outlet he expects the implant to undercut injections on cost, since patients might need only one or two a year instead of dozens of weekly auto-injector pens.
He said keeping patients on treatment could also lower spending on obesity-linked conditions.
Payers may come to see the implant as a “preferred approach,” he said, because patients would be less likely to drop off and lose the health benefits.
Some physicians see a different set of cost pressures.
Amy Rothberg, a clinical professor of medicine at the University of Michigan, told CNBCthat added in-person appointments, procedural support and implant-related costs could raise expenses for insurers and the wider health system.
Coverage is far from assured, she noted, given the uneven support that existing obesity treatments already receive.
Rothberg called the implant a “reasonable option” but said the procedure could prove re
The in-office insertion could also put it out of reach for patients who obtain GLP-1s through telehealth platforms, she added.
Efficacy data remains thin.
Vivani reported that pre-clinical work in rats showed roughly 20 percent weight loss over more than six months, results not yet replicated in humans
According to the press release, Vivani expects to begin its first human trial in mid-2026, comparing the implant against Wegovy injections in about 20 adults.
The agreement also reflects competitive pressure on Novo.
Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide brands Mounjaro and Zepbound generated US$8.7bn and US$4.2bn respectively in the first quarter of 2026, up 125 percent and 80 percent from a year earlier, Pharmaceutical Today reported, lifting Lilly’s total revenue to US$19.8bn.
