The antidiabetic drug “Ozempic” (semaglutide) manufactured by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
Joel Saget | AFP | Getty Images
The US Senate has opened an investigation into the high price of Novo NordiskPopular weight loss and diabetes medications Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States compared to other countries where these medications are sold.
The investigation into the Danish pharmaceutical manufacturer was announced by Sen. Bernie Sanders of the Vermont Independent who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.
“Novo Nordisk scientists deserve great credit for developing these drugs that have the potential to be a game-changer for millions of Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes and obesity,” Sanders said in a letter to Wednesday to CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
“As important as these drugs are, they will do no good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them,” Sanders wrote.
Sanders also laid out in stark terms the dilemma facing U.S. insurers, including the government, given the high cost of potentially life-changing drugs. “If the prices of these products are not dramatically reduced, they also risk bankrupting Medicare, Medicaid, and our entire health care system,” he wrote.
Sanders noted that Novo Nordisk charges much less for the same drugs in other countries. The company “charges $969 in the United States for a month of Ozempic, but only $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany.”
Wegovy, which is even more expensive than Ozempic, is subject to similarly disparate prices overseas, Sanders wrote. A study last month found that Ozempic could be made for less than $5 a month.
The powerful progressive senator also made a simple request to the pharmaceutical company’s CEO: “Will Novo Nordisk significantly reduce both the list price and net price of Ozempic and Wegovy?”
Sanders asked Jørgensen in his letter how drug prices are determined and how much the pharmaceutical company spends on research and development. He gave Novo Nordisk until May 8 to answer a series of questions about the drug’s price.
U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-VT) gestures while delivering a speech on reducing health care costs, in the Indian Treaty Room of the Eisenhower Executive Office Building at the White House Complex in Washington, United States, April 3, 2024.
Evelyn Hockstein | Reuters
Novo Nordisk declined to release production costs to CNBC after the study was released and said it spent $5 billion on research and development in 2023 and would spend more than $6 billion this year to stimulate the production of GLP-1.
In a statement to CNBC Wednesday in response to the letter, Novo Nordisk said it agreed with Sanders that access to medicines is important, but highlighted the complexities of the health care sector.
“It is easy to oversimplify the science needed to understand diseases, develop and produce new treatments, and the intricacies of the U.S. and global health systems. However, public debate does not always take take into account this extremely complex reality,” the report said. the company said.
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