Novo Nordisk’s commercials are ubiquitous, their clients include the rich and famous, and the results can be life changing. But the company, which creates the diabetes drug Ozempic and the weight loss medication Wegovy, is under fire from the Senate HELP Committee for its prices in the United States, which are significantly higher than other countries.
“What we are dealing with today is not just an issue of economics. It is not just an issue of corporate greed. It is a profound moral issue,” Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., said during a hearing.
Here are the numbers
In the United States, Ozempic sells for $969. It costs $155 in Canada, $122 in Denmark, $71 in France and $59 in Germany.
Wegovy costs $1,349 in America, $265 in Canada, $186 in Denmark, $137 in Germany and $82 in the U.K.
Sanders pointed out two facts in particular as he pressured Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen to lower costs:
- 72% of the company’s $50 billion in sales on those products has come from the United States.
- Sen. Sanders said he has spoken with other drug manufacturers who say they could make and sell a generic to Americans for less than $100 per month.
“The vast majority of the American people are sick and tired of paying outrageously high prices for prescription drugs,” Sanders said.
Jørgensen said many Americans pay $25 out of pocket if Ozempic is covered by their insurance, Sanders countered that’s just a pass through to higher insurance premiums.
Sanders kept pressing on the difference in prices from country to country, but Jorgensen blamed the system or tried to explain why the prices aren’t really what they appear.
“If you don’t act, 40,000 people a year could die. Is this acceptable to you?” Sanders asked Jørgensen.
“Any prospect of patients not getting access to the medicine they need I think is terrifying, and we have to solve this challenge together,” Jørgensen answered.
Sanders also got Jørgensen to pledge to work with pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), which are companies that manage prescription drug benefits for insurance companies, employers and Medicare, to lower the price.
Republicans were also concerned about the price of the drugs, but ranking member Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., cautioned that there’s no silver bullet to lowering health care costs.
“So what can we do to make sure that Americans have access to an affordable cost and at the same time we have adequate incentive so that someone out there with the incurable disease knows that there might be hope along the way,” Cassidy asked rhetorically.
