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For years, pharmaceutical companies have been racing to develop a market-ready GLP-1 weight-loss pill to join the ranks of popular injectables. Today, Novo Nordisks oral version of Wegovy is officially available for purchase. The Wegovy pillwhich has been in clinical trials for over two years and was approved by the FDA on December 22is the first and only oral GLP-1 medication for weight loss in adults available in the U.S. According to a press release from Novo Nordisk, the pill hit the market on January 5 at more than 70,000 U.S. pharmacies and several popular telehealth providers. Per a KFF health tracking poll released in November, 1 in 8 Americans were already taking a GLP-1 medication for weight-loss. The new Wegovy pill likely represents an incoming era of even more widespread access to GLP-1 weight-loss drugs. We know there are people who are interested in addressing their weight but have been waiting on the sidelines for a medicine that was right for them, Ed Cinca, Novo Nordisks senior vice president of marketing and patient solutions, said in the press release. For many of them, he added, the wait is over. As of this writing, Novo Nordisks stock is up about 4% since the announcement. Heres what to know about the companys new pill. How much does the Wegovy pill cost? Like the injectable version of Wegovy, its pill form will require a prescription from a doctor. Its available in multiple doses, including 1.5 milligrams (which is considered a starter dose, to help the body build up a tolerance), 4 mg, 9 mg, and 25 mg. Novo Nordisk says prices for self-pay patients will start at $149 per month for the 1.5 mg dose. The 4 mg dose will also be available for $149 per month through April 15, 2026, then $199 per month after. The highest dose of 25 mg will be available for $299 per month. Where is the Wegovy pill available? Starting today, the Wegovy pill is available at more than 70,000 pharmacies, including CVS and Costco, as well as telehealth providers like Ro, LifeMD, Weight Watchers, NovoCare Pharmacy (Novo Nordisks direct-to-patient service), GoodRx, and more. For its part, GoodRx (which is a healthcare company that provides coupons and savings to be applied in pharmacies) announced in its own press release that it will help consumers access the Wegovy pill at a variety of pharmacies for its lowest price of $149 per month at the 1.5 mg and 4 mg dosages. The news comes after GoodRx first joined forces with Novo Nordisk in September to offer the lowest-ever out-of-pocket prices for injectable Ozempic and Wegovy.
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Stocks rose in morning trading on Wall Street Monday to kick off the first full week of the new year, led by energy and technology companies. The S&P 500 rose 0.7%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose 639 points, or 1.3%, as of 10:55 a.m. Eastern. The Nasdaq composite rose 0.8%. Markets in Asia and Europe were mostly higher. Energy companies and the oil market were a key focus after U.S. forces captured Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro in a weekend raid. The price of U.S. crude jumped 1.4% to $58.13 per barrel. The price of Brent crude, the international standard, rose 1.2% to $61.50 per barrel. President Donald Trump has floated a plan for U.S. oil companies to help rebuild Venezuelas oil industry. Chevron surged 5% and Exxon Mobil rose 2% for some of the strongest gains in the market. After years of neglect and international sanctions, Venezuelas oil industry is in disrepair. It could take years and major investments before production can increase dramatically. But some analysts expect its current output of about 1.1 million barrels a day could double or triple fairly quickly. Big banks also made solid gains. JPMorgan Chase rose 3.4% and Bank of America jumped 2.6%. Wall Street is also watching the technology sector as the industry kicks off its annual CES trade show in Las Vegas. Nvidia rose 0.3% and Intel jumped 2%. Investors are particularly focused on advancements in artificial intelligence, or AI. The sector led the broader market to a series of records in 2025 on expectations that AI will continue to drive advancements and profits for a wide range of technology companies. The latest updates on AI from influential technology companies could help shed more light on whether the big investments are worth the potential financial risks. Companies like Nvidia have been heavily investing in the technology, while investors on Wall Street have made those companies among the most valuable in the world. Their outsized valuations now drive much of the movement for major indexes. Gold gained 2.8% and the price of silver soared 8%. Such assets are often considered safe havens in times of geopolitical turmoil. The metals have notched record prices over the last year amid lingering economic concerns brought on by conflicts and trade wars. Treasury yields held relatively steady in the bond market. The yield on the 10-year Treasury fell to 4.18% from 4.19% late Friday. The yield on the two-year Treasury, which moves more closely with expectations for what the Federal Reserve will do, fell to 3.46% from 3.48% late Friday. Wall Street will get several economic updates this week that will also be watched by the Fed as it determines interest rate policy. On Monday, the Institute for Supply Management released its manufacturing index for December showing the sector continued shrinking. More importantly, the business group will release its December report on the services sector on Wednesday. The services sector makes up the bulk of the U.S. economy and it grew, even if only slightly, throughout most of 2025. Reports on the job market later this week, which include updates for job openings and overall employment, will be a bigger focus for the Fed. The central bank has been weighing a slowing job market against risks for rising inflation as it decides whether to cut interest rates. It cut its benchmark rate three times late in 2025, but inflation has remained above its 2% target and that has made the Fed more cautious. Wall Street still expects the Fed to hold rates steady at its upcoming meeting later in January. Damian J. Troise, AP business writer AP business writer Elaine Kurtenbach and AP video journalist Mayuko Ono contributed to this report.
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E-Commerce
While most EVs tip the scales at several tons, a new featherweight electric sports car weighs half as muchor lessthan others on the road. Longbow, the U.K.-based startup behind the sleek EV, plans to bring its first vehicle to market later this year with a limited run of 150 cars, starting at 84,995, or roughly $110,000. A high-performance version of the design is on display at CES this week. The companys aim is to reverse the car industrys weight problemsomething that’s especially an issue for EVs that have large batteries inside. Heavier vehicles have bigger carbon footprints, use more energy, and are more dangerous in a crash for pedestrians. They also wear out roads faster (as well as tires, which spew more microplastic pollution the more weight they carry). [Photo: Longbow Motors] Everything gets better when you remove weight, says Mark Tapscott, cofounder and CTO at Longbow. Still, most of the industry has been moving in the opposite direction. We really see automotive in generaland EVs specificallyare getting increasingly heavier,” says Longbow CEO Daniel Davey. “When they become heavier, that requires more resources, requires bigger batteries, bigger motors. It’s kind of the opposite of marginal gains.” The Chevy Silverado, for example, can weigh as much as 8,900 pounds. Even the smaller Nissan Leaf can weigh 4,200 pounds. Longbows Speedster weighs around 1,973 pounds. [Photo: Longbow Motors] A lighter car, by design The car uses lightweight materials, prioritizing options with the lowest environmental impact. A lot of manufacturers will move towards carbon fiber, but it is the single worst material you can use for the environment, says Tapscott. It breaks easily. It’s difficult to maintain. You wear out the car quickly. Instead, the car uses a custom aluminum chassis designed to maximum stiffness while minimizing weight. It also includes natural fiber composites and thermoplastics. Each design decision was made with lightness in mind. The handbrake is manual, for example, which makes it weigh less, but also makes it more effective and cheaper and quicker to develop. The design team kept the car intentionally simple. Instead of chasing unnecessary specslike a 600-mile battery range when a typical commute might be 30 miles, or a four-second sprint from zero to 60the design is pared down to the essentials. [Photo: Longbow Motors] It’s similar to the approach that the startup Slate has taken as it works on a low-cost electric truck. “What they’ve done in the truck space I think is kind of revolutionary,” says Davey. “Because they’re saying, ‘You know all those things you pay loads of money that you don’t need? Well, you could not have them and not pay all the money if you’d like.’ And I think people like that idea.” [Photo: Longbow Motors] The world doesn’t need faster numbers,” says Tapscott. “It needs better experiences. And so that’s why we talk about what the car is, what it does, how it feels, rather than what battery chemistry we have. They took time to find the right off-the-shelf components for the vehicle. The car on display at CES has innovative motors built into each wheel. The company hasn’t yet announced whether that feature will be available in the first cars that come out this year, but it’s another way that it can cut weight even further. [Image: Donut Labs] A typical drivetrain, with a central motor that connects to each wheel, might have around 100 parts that can weigh a couple of hundred pounds and take up valuable space. By placing motors in the wheels, it eliminates those components and works more efficiently. Donut Labs, the Finnish startup that designed the new motors, says that they can also reduce the cost of making a vehicle by $1,000 to $2,000. Having motors in the wheels also makes cars more responsive. “It makes the car drive in a way that you cannot experience otherwise,” says Marko Lehtimäki, CEO of Donut Labs. [Photo: Longbow Motors] A more sustainable car that’s longer-lasting Because of Longbow’s careful approach to sustainability, manufacturing the car has a lower carbon footprint than a typical gas car. When it’s driven, it also uses less electricity per mile than other EVs because it weighs less. (The lower weight also means that it can have a range of up to 280 miles on a charge, even though it uses a smaller battery than a typical EV.) The company also designed the car to last as long as possiblewith an unprecedented pledge to help keep each car on the road for 100 years. The first step: trying to design a classic car that people will want to keep for life rather than replace. [Photo: Longbow Motors] “It has to start with design,” says Tapscott. “No one wants to drive the Fiat Multipla anymore because it was the ugliest car ever built. So a core tenet of being available for a hundred years is that people want the car. Desirability. We looked at design that is timeless, not radically modern. We are drawing more inspiration from cars of the past.” The materials are also made to last. The aluminum chassis, for example, won’t rust or corrode. The parts are designed for repair. When possible, the engineers chose 3D printing for certain parts, like clips or brackets, so that they can easily be remade later on demand decades from now. [Photo: Longbow Motors] The car is also designed to be fun to driveanother way, obviously, to convince drivers to keep the same car in use longer. The light weight is an important part of the experience. “I think most people today haven’t actually experienced what a lightweight car is like to drive,” says Tapscott. “Even a lightweight hatchback or economy [sedan] are all well over 3,000 pounds or so. So when you start driving something that’s under 2,000 pounds, everything changes. The way it handles corners, under acceleration, under braking, everything gets better when you get lighter. I think any racing driver will explain that the weight is the most important thing you have.” [Photo: Longbow Motors] Their aim is to design the best sports car in the world, not just the best electric version. “You need to meet people where they are,” says Tapscott. “And you need to meet petrol on an even playing field, and do that with a really aspirational car that’s better. It just happens that it has one full green credential as well.” That mandate will extend beyond sports cars, though that’s where the company is beginning. “Our mission is to quickly make all cars better and lighter for people and the planet,” says Davey. “That’s really by showing a way to an industry that has lost itself by just adding all this excess weight to everything that they do.”
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E-Commerce
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