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Sanders Calls BS on Novo Nordisk Excuses for Sky-High Prices of Ozempic, Wegovy
During a hearing, Sen. Bernie Sanders told the pharmaceutical giant's CEO to "stop ripping us off."
Sep 24, 2024
Sen. Bernie Sanders on Tuesday rejected the pharmaceutical Novo Nordisk's justifications for the high prices of two increasingly popular obesity and diabetes medications in the United States, telling the company's CEO to "stop ripping us off."
Sanders' (I-Vt.) remarks came during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee hearing featuring testimony from Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, the chief executive of the Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk.
"The United States is Novo Nordisk's cash cow for Ozempic and Wegovy," said Sanders, noting that the company has made $50 billion in sales of the two drugs since 2018—a majority of them in the U.S., where the company charges significantly higher prices than in Denmark, Germany, and other rich countries.
The senator rejected Jørgensen's efforts in his written testimony to explain away the high prices for the two medications. The executive pointed to the "complexity" of the U.S. healthcare system and rebates to pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), among other factors, to justify the current list prices of Ozempic and Wegovy—$969 a month and $1,349 a month, respectively, in the U.S.
Sanders observed that "even factoring in all of the rebates that PBMs receive, the net price for Ozempic is still nearly $600—over nine times as much as it costs in Germany."
"And the estimated net price of Wegovy," the senator added, "is over $800—nearly four and a half times as much as it costs in Denmark."
Watch the full hearing:
Ahead of Tuesday's hearing, Sanders released a report countering Jørgensen's insistence that cutting the list prices of Ozempic and Wegovy would lead to PBMs "dropping" the medications from their formularies, resulting in less access to the drugs.
"Three major PBMs that help determine drug coverage for most of the nation—Cigna Group/Express Scripts, CVS Health/Caremark, UnitedHealth Group/Optum Rx—confirmed to Chair Sanders that a list price reduction would not negatively impact formulary placement for Ozempic and Wegovy, and affirmed that lower list prices would, in fact, make the drugs more widely available to patients in need," Sanders' office said.
The report also disputes Novo Nordisk's claim that price cuts would undermine the company's ability to "invest in new and innovative drug research and development efforts"—a claim that pharmaceutical firms often use to justify high prices.
"Since launching Ozempic in 2018, Novo Nordisk has spent twice as much on stock buybacks and dividends ($44 billion) as it has on research and development ($21 billion), according to financial filings," the report notes. "Novo Nordisk has also lavished cash and perks on healthcare providers, sending doctors on trips to Alaska, Hawaii, and Florida, and paying for nearly 1.7 million meals and snacks for doctors and other healthcare providers to promote Ozempic and Wegovy, federal records show."
"Right now, rationing is a painful reality for American patients dealing with issues related to diabetes and obesity."
During Tuesday's hearing, Jørgensen said he would be willing to do "anything that will help patients get access to affordable medicine" but did not specifically pledge to reduce the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy. Jørgensen told the Senate committee that PBMs' vows not to reduce access to the drugs in the case of price cuts was "new information to me."
The consumer advocacy group Public Citizensaid following the Senate hearing that Medicare would save $14 billion on Ozempic and Wegovy if the Biden administration used its existing legal authority to approve generic competition for the two medications.
"Novo today appeared unable, or unwilling, to articulate a credible response [to] why it charges Americans more than people in other wealthy countries," said Peter Maybarduk, director of Public Citizen's Access to Medicines program. "The federal government must open generic competition with Ozempic and Wegovy."
"Right now, rationing is a painful reality for American patients dealing with issues related to diabetes and obesity," he continued. "The federal government has an obligation to serve these patients' health needs. In doing so, we can also improve Medicare's financial health. As Sen. Sanders has cautioned, Novo Nordisk's price gouging practices would impose unmanageable costs on Medicare if its drugs were made available to all seniors who might benefit from them."
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Sanders Rips Pharma Giant for Charging $900+ for Drug That Could Be Sold for $100
"Why? Excessive corporate greed," said Sen. Bernie Sanders.
Sep 17, 2024
U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders called out the pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk on Tuesday for charging American patients more than $900 a month for the increasingly popular diabetes drug Ozempic, even though generic manufacturers are willing to sell the medication for significantly less.
During a panel discussion with experts, Sanders (I-Vt.) said he and his staff have been in contact with the top executives of major drug makers who say they could sell a generic version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month—and still turn a profit. A recent study found that the drug can be manufactured for less than $5 a month.
"Novo Nordisk, which has made nearly $50 billion in sales off of Ozempic and Wegovy, charges Americans almost $1,000 a month—the highest prices in the world," Sanders, the chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, said Tuesday. "Why? Excessive corporate greed."
Ozempic and Wegovy are part of a class of treatments known as GLP-1s. Wegovy, a weight-loss drug that Novo Nordisk sells for $1,349 a month in the U.S., contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic, which is approved only for people with Type 2 diabetes.
The drugs' growing popularity in the U.S. has drawn greater scrutiny to Novo Nordisk's pricing. Sanders' office noted Tuesday that the company's price tag for Wegovy is $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany, and $92 in the United Kingdom.
Novo Nordisk's high prices for the drugs in the U.S. could have far-reaching impacts on the nation's healthcare system. A group of economists wrote in a recent op-ed for The New York Times earlier this year that "under reasonable assumptions and at current prices, making this class of drugs available to all obese Americans could eventually cost over $1 trillion per year," which is "almost as much as the government spends on the entire Medicare program and almost one-fifth of the entire amount America spends on healthcare."
Sanders warned Tuesday that if the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy aren't reined in, Medicare premiums could surge.
"Our healthcare system, I think most people understand, is in crisis," Sanders said during the panel discussion. "The business model of the pharmaceutical industry is unsustainable."
Over the course of our investigation into the outrageous cost of Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S., I spoke with the CEOs of major generic pharmaceutical companies who confirmed:
They can sell a generic version of Ozempic for $100/mo. https://t.co/XDHdBRPIcM
— Bernie Sanders (@SenSanders) September 17, 2024
Peter Maybarduk, director of the Access to Medicines Program at Public Citizen, said in a statement Tuesday that "all we need to make Ozempic for $100 a reality is to overcome Novo's patent monopoly, which the government has the power to do any time."
"States and clinicians are asking the feds for help," said Maybarduk. "We estimate taking action on Novo's patents could save Medicare more than $14 billion in the first two years of competition, while making diabetes and obesity drugs affordable."
Last month, Public Citizen delivered a petition to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra urging him to use existing law to "authorize generic competitors to Ozempic and Wegovy."
"Novo Nordisk’s outrageous pricing of [Ozempic and Wegovy] threatens to break the coffers of federal health programs," the group wrote. "Pursuant to 28 U.S.C. § 1498, the administration should authorize use of any and all patents necessary to allow manufacturers to produce generic alternatives to these treatments on behalf of the United States government, which can be used to supply Medicare, Medicaid, and other federal health programs. This will facilitate competition and make the treatments more affordable and accessible for patients."
The CEO of Novo Nordisk, which has spent aggressively on lobbying this year, is scheduled to testify before the Senate HELP Committee next week.
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Ahead of Senate Hearing, Doctors Decry 'Exorbitant' Cost of Ozempic and Wegovy
"Too often, because manufacturers are pricing out my patients, I have to resort to treatment options that are less effective and less safe," one doctor said.
Sep 16, 2024
As the U.S. Senate prepares for a hearing on Novo Nordisk overcharging Americans for Ozempic and Wegovy, Sen. Bernie Sanders on Monday released a letter from 253 health professionals asking Congress to take on the "exorbitant prices set by manufacturers" for non-insulin diabetes and weight loss medications.
The clinicians wrote that drugs including "semaglutide (marketed by Novo Nordisk as Ozempic for diabetes and Wegovy for weight loss) and... tirzapetide (marketed by Eli Lilly as Mounjaro for diabetes and Zepbound for weight loss) have been revolutionary in the management of chronic conditions of diabetes and obesity."
"However, even the most transformative medications cannot help our patients if they cannot afford them," states the letter, which is addressed to Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), and Sen. Bill Cassidy (R-La.), the panel's ranking member.
"If Novo Nordisk does not end its greed and substantially reduce the price of these drugs, we must do everything we can to end it for them."
"Studies have shown that semaglutide can be manufactured for as little as nearly $5 per month, substantially lower than the current U.S. list price of $968 for Ozempic or $1,349 per month for Wegovy," the letter notes. "In contrast, Novo Nordisk has set the price of Wegovy at $92 in the United Kingdom and $186 in Denmark, clearly demonstrating that these drugs are being priced unfairly for our U.S. patients."
The health providers stressed that "for patients, these are not one-off prices they shoulder, but potentially lifelong costs they will need to consider. For obesity, the drugs work while patients take them, but once off treatment, studies have found that patients regain the weight."
"Patients in the U.S. face multiple hurdles in accessing the drugs, which we as prescribers do our best to help them navigate," they explained, detailing issues faced by people who have private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid coverage, and no insurance. "Lack of coverage, supply shortages, and the unreasonable sticker prices of these medications are pushing patients to consider alternative options, which are often unsafe."
"We want our patients to be able to access medications that can improve their health and quality of life, but we do not want to rob the American taxpayers to line the pockets of the pharmaceutical manufacturers," the clinicians concluded. "Senators, we are asking you to do everything in your power to bring down the price of these novel diabetes and obesity drugs. Our patients deserve to have the best options available to them at a fair price."
Echoing the letter in a Monday statement, Dr. Kasia Lipska, a practicing endocrinologist and diabetes researcher at the Yale School of Medicine in Connecticut, said that "the exorbitant prices that manufacturers are asking my patients to pay for these novel diabetes and obesity medications are simply unacceptable."
"Too often, because manufacturers are pricing out my patients, I have to resort to treatment options that are less effective and less safe," Lipska continued. "These are life-changing treatments that should be available to my patients and everyone who needs them, not just those who can afford to pay."
Dr. Elizabeth Dewey, another letter signatory who practices family medicine in Greensboro, North Carolina, said that in her state, "we have been struggling all year with lack of coverage for weight loss medications."
"When our state plan and large employers dropped coverage for weight loss medications earlier this year, patients were left without treatment," Dewey explained. "Those who wanted to continue on the medications could pay cash. But for most patients, paying hundreds of dollars without insurance coverage is not affordable. Even with drug company coupons or discounts on certain doses, these treatments are still unattainable for most of my patients."
Sanders, who launched a probe into Denmark-based Novo Nordisk back in April, welcomed the letter, saying that "doctors across this country are sick and tired of seeing their patients ripped off by giant pharmaceutical companies."
"There is no rational reason, other than greed, for Novo Nordisk to charge Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic, while this same exact drug can be purchased for just $155 in Canada and just $59 in Germany," he argued. "Novo Nordisk also charges Americans with obesity $1,349 a month for Wegovy, while this same exact product can be purchased for just $140 in Germany."
"Doctors agree," he added. "If Novo Nordisk does not end its greed and substantially reduce the price of these drugs, we must do everything we can to end it for them."
The Senate HELP Committee hearing on Capitol Hill is scheduled for 10:00 am on Tuesday, September 24.
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