(Reuters) – The U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee said on Friday that Novo Nordisk Chief Executive Lars Jorgensen has agreed to voluntarily testify at a hearing on the U.S. prices of weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Senate Health Committee had scheduled a vote on June 18 on whether to subpoena Novo to answer questions about the blockbuster drug’s U.S. price, but the committee’s chairman, Senator Bernie Sanders, said the vote would be canceled because it was no longer necessary.
The subpoena will require Novo President Doug Langa to testify at a hearing on July 10.
Jorgensen is scheduled to testify before the committee, with a hearing scheduled to take place in early September.
Novo charges $1,349 a month for Wegobee in the United States, but the app can be purchased for $140 in Germany and $92 in the UK, Sanders said.
“The committee looks forward to Ms. Jorgensen explaining why Americans are paying 10 to 15 times more than people in other countries for these drugs,” Sanders added.
Sanders wrote to Langa in April seeking more information about the U.S. prices of the two drugs.
Novo reportedly responded in a letter in May, blaming the U.S. health care system for the high prices.
(Reporting by Puyaan Singh in Bengaluru; Editing by Shaunak Dasgupta)
