Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen was in the hot seat yesterday when he testified in front of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) on why the company’s popular weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, cost more in the US than in Europe.
Senator Bernie Sanders, the chair of the committee, criticized the high costs and remarked that the increase in demand and the high prices of drugs could bankrupt Medicare and raise insurance premiums.
Currently
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The US list price for Ozempic is $969 per month, versus $59 in Germany, $71 in France, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada.
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The list price for Wegovy in the US is $1,349 per month, whereas in the UK, it costs $92.
In his testimony, Jorgensen said Novo has limited control over the drug prices and blamed the higher cost partly on pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) who negotiate drug prices and the US.
He pointed out that over 80% of insured US patients pay less than $25 per prescription, but 75% of revenue goes back into rebates and fees.
The Danish CEO also noted that lowering the drugs’ prices could reduce insurance coverage. He admitted his hesitancy, pointing out that when Novo Nordisk reduced the cost of its insulin product Levemir, PBMs stopped offering the medicine.
It was available to 90% of US patients through formularies, but after its list price dropped, only 36% of patients had access, leading to its discontinuation.
Senators urged Jorgensen to lower the list price if pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) uphold their commitment to preserving access to these drugs, which he indicated he was open to discussing.
Since 2018, Novo Nordisk has made $50 billion in sales of Ozempic and Wegovy, and around 72% of that revenue comes from US sales.
A Yale study recently suggested the drug could be made for less than $5 per month, but Jorgensen said the study didn’t account for the $10 billion investment in research and development.