COPENHAGEN, Jan 5 (Reuters) – Denmark’s Novo Nordisk will offer its 1.5 and 4 milligram Wegovy weightloss pills at $149 per month to self-paying patients in the United States from January 5, it said on Monday.
It will from the same date offer the highest doses of the drug pill, of 9 and 25 milligram, at $299 per month, it said on its website.
The price for the 4 milligram dose will rise to $199 per month from April 15, it said.
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The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on December 22 approved the pill, giving Novo Nordisk a leg up as it looks to regain lost ground from rival Eli Lilly.
The semaglutide pills contain the same active ingredient as injectable Wegovy and Ozempic, and will be sold under the brand name Wegovy. Novo Nordisk already sells an oral semaglutide for type 2 diabetes, Rybelsus.
(Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen, writing by Anna Ringstrom, editing by Terje Solsvik)
The US carried out a number of air strikes against targets in Venezuela as an elite military unit made its was to Nicolás Maduro’s compound
The Cuban government has said 32 of its nationals were killed during the US operation to capture Venezuelan leader Nicolás Maduro.
It said the dead were members of its armed forces and intelligence agencies, with two days of national mourning declared.
A short statement did not elaborate on the role of the Cubans in Venezuela, but the two governments are long-standing allies, with Cuba providing security support in exchange for oil.
Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel said they had been providing protection to Maduro and his wife “at the request” of Venezuela.
An official government statement read: “Our compatriots fulfilled their duty with dignity and heroism and fell, after fierce resistance, in direct combat against the attackers or as a result of bombings on the facilities.”
Venezuela has not confirmed how many people were killed during the US raid on Maduro’s compound in Caracas on Saturday.
The New York Times, citing an unnamed Venezuelan official, reported on Sunday that the death toll stood at 80 and was expected to rise. BBC News has not independently verified that report.
In the days following the capture of Maduro, questions have been raised over whether the Trump administration could consider a similar operation against Cuba, which, like Venezuela, has had decades of adversarial relations with the US.
Speaking to reporters on Sunday, US President Donald Trump said military action would not be necessary because “Cuba is ready to fall”.
He continued: “I don’t think we need any action. Looks like it’s going down. It’s going down for the count.”
Watch: Venezuela is ‘a mess’ and Cuba is ‘ready to fall’, says Trump
On Saturday, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio described Cuba as a “disaster” run by “incompetent, senile men”.
“If I lived in Havana, and I was in the government, I’d be concerned – at least a little bit,” Rubio said.
The White House said it would end “economic practices that disproportionately benefit the Cuban government, military, intelligence, or security agencies at the expense of the Cuban people”.
It also said existing restrictions on Americans visiting Cuba would be more stringently enforced.
During his first term as president, Trump took a similar approach to Cuba, implementing a raft of additional sanctions.
His administration has continued an economic embargo on Cuba, despite calls by international organisations including the United Nations to end it.
The blockade was initially imposed in 1962 and has been in place ever since.
SEOUL, Jan 5 (Reuters) – South Korean automaker Kia Corp said on Monday it is targeting global vehicle sales of 3.35 million units in 2026, up about 4.2% from last year’s sales target.
In a separate regulatory filing, Kia said it had sold 3.14 million vehicles in 2025, slightly below its target of 3.22 million units.
Kia said in a statement that it maintained global sales growth last year despite an uncertain industry environment, including the impact of U.S. tariffs.
The automaker said it focused on expanding hybrid vehicle sales in the United States and strengthened its position in Europe through higher electric vehicle volumes.
For this year, Kia said it aims to sustain sales momentum and bolster its global market presence by expanding its hybrid lineup for key sports utility vehicle (SUV) models, including the Telluride and Seltos, while increasing production and reinforcing sustainability of its global supply chain.
(Reporting by Joyce Lee and Heekyong Yang; Editing by Ed Davies)
