Novo Nordisk chief faces US Congress scrutiny over weight-loss drug pricing Reuters
Written by Patrick Wingrove
(Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders will question Novo Nordisk (NYSE: ) CEO Lars Jorgensen on Tuesday about the drugmaker’s pricing of its popular weight-loss and diabetes drugs that can cost Americans more than $1,000 a month.
Sanders is expected to challenge the CEO during a hearing of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (AID) Committee, which he chairs, on why the company charges American payers more for life-saving drugs than any other country.
Semaglutide, a GLP-1 class drug marketed as Wegovy for weight loss and Ozempic for type 2 diabetes, has been shown to help patients lose an average of 15% of their body weight.
Ozempic and Wegovy charge US prices of $935.77 and $1,349.02, respectively, for a month’s supply, which Sanders has previously argued is higher than the $59 and $92 prices they charge in other countries. Europe.
Jorgensen is expected to say that type 2 diabetes costs the United States about $413 billion annually, while obesity costs $1.7 billion annually, according to prepared remarks seen by Reuters.
He is also expected to say that patients often face difficulties in accessing the US health care system, and that Novo will work with SIZO to “address structural problems that harm patients and increase costs”.
Jorgensen said in a written statement sent to the committee that Novo spent $4.2 billion on diabetes and obesity research and development in 2023 alone.
He said 99% of US commercial insurance plans now cover Ozempic and about half cover Wegovy. More than 80% of US patients with drug insurance pay less than $25 for a monthly supply and 90% pay less than $50, he added.
The CEO said Novo Nordisk has committed $30 billion to expand production capacity since the beginning of last year, most of it directed toward GLP-1 drugs, including $4.1 billion to expand its North Carolina facility. last June.
Growing demand for Ozempic and Wegovy and rival drugs from Eli Lilly (NYSE: ) have caused drug shortages for much of this year.
Ozempic’s costs have fallen by about 40% since launch and Wegovy’s have fallen by a similar amount for payers who receive discounts, Jorgensen said.
Sanders said earlier this month that generic drugmakers confirmed they could sell copycat versions of Ozempic for less than $100 a month, and he previously said the drug’s high cost has the potential to disrupt America’s health care system.
Jorgensen said Ozempic will be eligible for US government price negotiations for its Medicare health plan in 2027, assuming it meets other legal criteria. The company has previously told analysts that it expects Medicare to negotiate prices for Ozempic and Wegovy for that year.
