Novo Nordisk CEO to Testify in Senate on Weight-Loss Drug Prices
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, speaks during an interview in New York on August 10, 2022.
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Novo Nordisk‘s top executives are scheduled to face a Senate interrogation on Tuesday over the high price of the company’s Wegovy diet drug and Ozempic Diabetes Treatmentbecause of the need for both injections spike in the United States
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen to testify before Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing at 10 a.m. ET on Tuesday in Washington, D.C. The incident comes about five months after Senator Bernie Sanders, an independent from Vermont who chairs a Senate committee, opened an investigation into the Danish pharmaceutical company’s pricing practices.
Sanders argues that Novo Nordisk charges Americans significantly more for its blockbuster drug than it does for patients in other countries. Before insurance, Ozempic cost nearly $969 a month and Wegovy is priced almost $1,350 a month in the United States
Meanwhile, according to reports from several European countries, both treatments cost just under $100 for a month’s use. committee. Ozempic costs just $59 in Germany, while Wegovy costs $92 in the UK
Last week, Sanders also said executives from major pharmaceutical companies have told him they could sell a version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month profitable. There is currently no generic alternative to Ozempic available in the United States.
Weight loss syringes under the brands “Wegovy”, “Ozempic” and “Mounjaro” are sold at In der Achat Apotheke in Mitte, Germany.
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Sanders and other lawmakers, health expert and insurers have warned of insatiable demand for Novo Nordisk’s drugs and similar weight-loss and diabetes treatments from competitors. Eli Lilly maybe has the potential to bankrupt the US health care system. unless price drops.
Both drugmakers make GLP-1, a hormone that mimics the hormones produced in the gut to reduce appetite and regulate a person’s blood sugar. Eli Lilly’s weight loss injection Zepbound and the diabetes drug Mounjaro cost similarly at around $1,000 per month before insurance and other reimbursements.
In a release, the Senate Health Committee said it would cost $411 billion a year if half of Americans took weight-loss drugs from Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly. That’s $5 billion more than Americans spent on all prescription drugs in 2022.
Medicare spent $4.6 billion on Ozempic According to the health policy research organization KFF, in 2022 alone.
Insurance companies and other employers have implemented strict requirements to control the cost of weight-loss drugs or have dropped coverage of these treatments altogether. Many health insurance plans cover GLP-1s for diabetes, but not for weight loss. The federal Medicare program does not cover weight-loss treatments unless they are approved and prescribed for another health condition.
The hearing comes as the Biden administration and lawmakers in both parties are trying to rein in rising health care costs in the United States, in part by pressuring the pharmaceutical industry and middlemen in the drug supply chain. On average, Americans pay two to three times more than patients in other developed countries for prescription drugs, according to a flyer from the White House.
Notably, Ozempic will likely be subject to next round on price negotiations between manufacturers and Medicare — a key provision of the President Joe BidenThe Inflation Reduction Act is aimed at reducing costs for seniors. Wall Street analysts say Ozempic will likely be eligible for negotiation by the time the next round of drugs is selected in 2025, with the price changes taking effect in 2027.
