How GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes is trying to halve the cost of GLP-1 obesity drugs
Key Takeaways
Also: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune.
Article Overview
Quick insights and key information
8 min read
Estimated completion
cryptocurrency
Article classification
August 19, 2025
08:31 AM
Fortune
Original publisher
s·CEO DailyHow GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes is trying to halve the cost of GLP-1 obesity drugsBy Diane BradyBy Diane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Media and author of CEO DailyDiane BradyExecutive Editorial Director, Fortune Media and author of CEO DailyDiane Brady is an award-winning journalist and author who has interviewed newsmakers worldwide and often speaks the global landscape
As executive editorial director of the Fortune CEO Initiative, she brings together a growing community of global leaders through conversations, content, and connections
She is also executive editorial director of Fortune Media and interviews newsmakers for the magazine and the CEO Daily .SEE FULL BIO GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes.Photo courtesy of GoodRxIn today’s CEO Daily: Diane Brady talks to GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes
The big story: Trump, Putin, and Zelensky headed for “Trilat”
Plus: All the news and watercooler chat from Fortune
I know several people on GLP-1 drugs
Some transformed their health; one used it to shed 10 pounds nobody thought she needed to lose
Such drugs have become the fastest-growing segment of drug spending, accounting for 10.5% of employers’ average pharmacy costs so far this year, vs. 8.9% in 2024
That’s up from 6.9% in 2023, when Americans spent $71.7 billion on such drugs
On average, employers pay between $8,000 and $10,000 per user each year for these drugs through healthcare plans
I spoke with GoodRx CEO Wendy Barnes on the eve of the company’s announcement yesterday that it will offer various strengths of Ozempic and Wegovy for a cash price of $499 a month, which is roughly half the normal cost
Simple math would suggest that could be an attractive price for companies, too, which raises the question of how the growing list of consumer-focused healthcare offerings could impact the traditional employer-pay model. “I would challenge the notion that all drug spend needs to flow through an insured model,” said Barnes. “We’re trying to get competitive pricing in the hands of every American.” That argument resonates with Mark Bertolini, the former CEO of Aetna who’s now heading up Oscar Health, which is aiming for a more dynamic, personalized model of health insurance, not un what gressive has done in other realms of insurance. “In every other part of the economy, I get to buy the duct I want at the price I want to pay, and I have an opportunity to shop and see what’s available,” he told me yesterday. “In healthcare, for the most part, employers pick a network that covers all their employees,” which can mean less choice and less satisfaction
Bertolini calls this the “retailization” of health insurance, and GoodRx’s GLP-1 announcement could be emblematic of a more holistic system where employers encourage workers to pick from a broader of options. (John Hancock offers discounts on Prenuvo body scans, for example.) Barnes, meanwhile, told me that GoodRx will be launching a subscription gram around weight loss before the end of this year and she sees discount cash pricing as a complement to employer offerings that grow more restrictive in a bid to trim costs
And while moves in Washington have raised concerns Americans’ healthcare coverage, Barnes sees opportunity in the government’s mandate to reduce drug prices and create more direct-to-patient pathways. “Payers are not going anywhere but they will no longer have complete control over what you or I do from a benefit perspective,” said Barnes, who of course, hopes more leaders will help employees get the best price they can for the drugs they need—and want
CEO Daily via Diane Brady at diane.brady@fortune.comTop newsTrump, Putin, and Zelensky headed for “Trilat”Peace talks to end the war in Ukraine reached a crucial new stage after President Trump “discussed Security Guarantees for Ukraine … with a coordination with the United States of America.” The next step, Trump says, is a three-way meeting with Ukraine’s Zelensky. “At the conclusion of the meetings, I called President Putin, and began the arrangements for a meeting, at a location to be determined, between President Putin and President Zelenskyy
After that meeting takes place, we will have a Trilat, which would be the two Presidents, plus myself.”Trump rails against the WSJ“I’ve settled 6 Wars in 6 months, one of them a possible Nu disaster, and yet I have to read & listen to the Wall Street Journal, and many other who truly don’t have a clue, tell me everything that I am doing wrong on the Russia/Ukraine MESS, that is Sleepy Joe Biden’s war, not mine,” he said on social media. ”I know exactly what I’m doing, and I don’t need the advice of people who have been working on all of these conflicts for years, and were never able to do a thing to stop them.”Putin advises Trump on voting securityThe president told Fox News's Sean Hannity that Putin had told him in Alaska, "Your election was rigged because you have mail-in voting." On Monday, Trump posted that he would end mail-in voting
Context: There is no evidence that U.S. federal elections are affected by widespread voter fraud
In fact, Newsmax just settled a lawsuit for $67 million after falsely claiming that the 2020 election was rigged.White House considers 10% stake in IntelUnder the notional posal, Intel’s $10.9 billion in Chips Act grants would be converted into equity, making the Trump administration the company’s largest stockholder, Bloomberg reported
It is not how seriously the idea is being pursued.Nasdaq plagued by meme stock pump-and-dumpsSeven small Chinese companies listed on the U.S.-based Nasdaq saw $3.7 billion wiped off their value after their stocks were talked up on social media and then suddenly sold off
The scam starts on social media, where hundreds of retail investors are persuaded via ads to join WhatsApp investor groups
The groups can be very convincing.OpenAI CEO admits to GPT-5 rollout mistakesOpenAI CEO Sam Altman reportedly admitted to reporters last week that the company “totally screwed up some things on the rollout” of its GPT-5 AI model earlier this month
He also noted the company will need to spend trillions on data centers to continue scaling the duct.Altman also says AI is in a “bubble” phaseIn remarks at a recent dinner, he used the word “bubble” three times in 15 seconds, according to CNBC, and then said, “I’m sure someone’s gonna write some sensational headline that
I wish you wouldn’t, but that’s fine.” he also said, “Are we in a phase where investors as a whole are overexcited AI? My opinion is yes.”Soho House goes privateA group of investors led by MCR Hotels agreed to acquire Soho House, the network of members-only social s, for $2.7 billion
Soho House traded on the New York Stock Exchange for the past four years but consistently underperformed and lost money.“Job-hugging” takes hold across the U.S.Consultants say that workers in the U.S. are “job-hugging,” clinging to their current positions for stability as job spects stagnate and management turnover rises
Some warn that this could lead to a new “Great Resignation” once spects imve.DOJ will give Congress more Epstein files on FridayThe agency is responding to a subpoena by the House Oversight Committee for all its records relating to the disgraced financier.The S&P 500 futures were marginally down 0.11% this morning, premarket, after the index closed flat yesterday near its record high
STOXX Europe 600 was up 0.13% in early trading
The U.K.’s FTSE 100 was flat in early trading
Japan’s Nikkei 225 was down 0.38% to hit another record high
China’s CSI 300 was down 0.38%
The South Korea KOSPI was down 0.81%
India’s Nifty 50 was up 0.37% before the end of the session
Bitcoin fell to $114.9K.Around the watercoolerKumail Nanjiani says Elon Musk did not HBO’s ‘Silicon Valley’: ‘He was , all the parties I go to are much cooler than these parties’ by Dave Smith‘Quiet cracking’ is spreading in offices: Half of workers are at point, and it’s costing companies $438 billion in ductivity loss by Emma Burleigh and Orianna Rosa RoyleEx-Google exec says degrees in law and medicine are a waste of time because they take so long to complete that AI will catch up by graduation by Preston ForeDuolingo CEO admits his controversial AI memo ‘did not give enough context’ and insists the company never laid off full-time employees by Jessica CoacciCEO Daily is compiled and edited by Joey Abrams and Jim Edwards
This is the web version of CEO Daily, a of must-read global insights from CEOs and industry leaders. to get it dered free to your inbox.
Related Articles
More insights from FinancialBooklet