Ahmed Aboulnein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Senator Bernie Sanders on Wednesday expressed confidence he could persuade Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) to lower U.S. prices of popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy by publicly criticizing the company for higher prices compared to other countries.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen is scheduled to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP), which Sanders chairs, at a hearing in September focusing on the U.S. prices of Ozempic and Wegovy.
“I think we have a real opportunity and I’m pleased that President Biden has supported that effort,” Sanders told Reuters in a telephone interview.
The strategy worked well for Sanders last year when he faced off against Novo and Eli Lilly (NYSE:). Sanofi (NASDAQ:) Following months of pressure over soaring insulin prices, the three companies announced they would cut prices ahead of a scheduled HELP Committee hearing.
“The main thing we can do, as we have done successfully in the past with insulin, is to focus on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry in general and Novo Nordisk in particular, and how they are deceiving the American people,” Sanders said.
A Novo Nordisk spokesman said the net price of both drugs — the amount the company actually receives — has fallen 40 percent since their launch, but the savings have not been passed on to consumers, and in a letter to the committee, the drugmaker blamed pharmacy benefit managers. Sanders said price cuts alone are not enough.
Pharmacy benefit managers act as intermediaries between pharmaceutical companies and consumers.
A Novo Nordisk spokesman said more than 80% of insured Americans pay $25 or less a month for their drugs.
Sanders said insurers are still paying too much for drugs, which drives up premiums and hospital costs, and those who pay that amount continue to be affected by high prices.
“It’s very hard for any company, especially one that is making record-breaking profits, to protect itself when it’s charging the American people prices many times higher than other countries for the exact same drugs,” Sanders said.
Sanders wants Novo to lower the U.S. price of Ozempic to about $155, the Canadian price.
Novo’s diabetes drug Ozempic, which has the same active ingredient as Wegoby and is used off-label for weight loss, has a U.S. list price of $935.77 for a month’s supply, compared with $1,349.02 for a month of Wegoby, according to the company’s website, though most consumers pay less.
Unprecedented demand for Novo and Lilly’s new weight-loss drugs has caused their stock prices to soar, making them among the world’s most valuable companies.
Sanders acknowledged that he was currently focusing on Novo Nordisk because it makes the most profitable drug in history, but said he would “certainly” approach Eli Lilly, which sells competing drugs Maunjaro and Zepbound, whose prices he described as “exorbitant.”
Mounjaro and Zepbound cost about $1,100 per month.
Some analysts predict the market for weight-loss drugs will exceed $100 billion by the end of the decade.
“Eli Lilly is also a large company. We know that, so we have no prejudice against Novo,” Sanders said.
PBMS also targeted
Sanders said he plans to introduce legislation to expand the maximum number of drugs covered by Medicare price negotiations from 20 to 50 per year and to apply a $2,000 annual out-of-pocket cap to Americans who aren’t covered by Medicare. Sanders said he wants to ensure bipartisan support for the measures.
President Joe Biden called for both provisions in his State of the Union address earlier this year.
Sanders also plans to investigate pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), who set what drugs are covered and how much they cost, and who drug companies blame for high prescription drug prices, but said drug companies cannot use that as an excuse.
“Despite the fact that PBMs play a negative role, (pharmaceutical companies) continue to deceive the American people,” Sanders said.
Sanders said Novo Nordisk was not in constructive negotiations with the Senate committee. The company announced that its CEO would testify before the Senate committee in response to Sanders’ threat of subpoenas.
A Novo Nordisk spokesman said the company offered to hold a briefing with committee staff but none was scheduled, and that the company also sent a 22-page letter responding to the committee’s questions.
“Novo has repeatedly stated in their press releases that they want to work with elected officials in a constructive way. But that is not the case,” Sanders said. “They have not responded in any constructive way.”
