WASHINGTON – Senators questioned the head of Novo Nordisk in a hearing Tuesday about the prices of the company’s diabetes and weight-loss medications.
During the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing, the chairman, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, said that Novo Nordisk charges more for Wegovy and Ozempic in the United States than in other countries.
Sanders said he has received commitments from major pharmacy benefit managers that they would be able to expand their coverage of Wegovy and Ozempic if Novo Nordisk substantially reduces the list price of the medications.
Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the president and CEO of the Danish pharmaceutical company, fielded questions about the high price of the drugs.
Ozempic, a drug used to treat diabetes, is listed in the U.S. at $969 per month, according to Sanders. In Germany, it is sold for just $59, he said. Wegovy, a weight-loss drug, costs $1,349 per month in the U.S. and $137 in Germany, Sanders continued.
“Treat the American people the same way that you treat people all over the world,” Sanders said to Jørgensen. “Stop ripping us off.”
Other committee members echoed Sanders’ probing.
“Why are we so out of align with the rest of the world in terms of the pricing that comes from the industry?” Sen. Mitt Romney, R-Utah, asked.
Jørgensen said the data is not comparable among countries and that 80% of Americans with insurance have access to the medications at $25 per month. Novo Nordisk also has a patient assistance program to help qualifying low-income patients afford the drugs.
The list price of the drugs is a starting point for negotiations with insurance companies, Jørgensen told the committee.
“It is not our intention that anyone should pay the list price,” he responded to Sanders.
GLP-1 medications, which help regulate blood sugar and appetite, could save thousands of lives each year if they were sold at a more affordable price, Sanders said.
Ozempic and Wegovy sales have surged in recent years, according to data from Pew Research Center, a Washington-based nonpartisan think tank.
Since 2018, Novo Nordisk has made nearly $50 billion in sales from the two drugs and is a “cash cow,” Sanders said.
Sen. Maggie Hassan, D-New Hampshire, and Sanders pressed Jørgensen on whether he would commit to lowering the list prices of Ozempic and Wegovy.
Representatives of the country’s top three pharmacy benefits managers — Cigna Healthcare’s Express Scripts, UnitedHealth Group’s OptumRx and CVS Health’s Caremark — told committee members they expect Novo Nordisk lowering list prices would lead to expanded access to the drugs, Hassan said.
Jørgensen said he would work with the committee and pharmacy benefit managers to negotiate lowering costs.
“I’ll be happy to collaborate with them on this, because anything that helps patients to get access and affordability, we are supportive of,” Jørgensen said.