Weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are 10 TIMES more expensive in the US than in other countries around the world

Weight loss drugs such as Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelus are significantly more expensive in the US than in other wealthy countries, up to 10 times more.

An analysis of prices in 10 countries by the Kaiser Family Foundation (KFF) found that a month’s supply of Ozempic, which is approved for the treatment of diabetes but is often prescribed off-label for weight loss purposes, is the list price in the United States. was found to be $936. .

List price is the cost that the manufacturer of a drug publicly sets the price for when selling to wholesalers who purchase the drug from the manufacturer for sale to pharmacies, hospitals and clinics.

List prices don’t necessarily reflect what consumers pay, but patients often have to pay more to offset the prices set by manufacturers.

Of the other nine countries KFF surveyed, they all paid less than $170 for the same amount of the same drug.

Ozempic is available in all 10 countries surveyed by KFF: US, Japan, Canada, Switzerland, Germany, Netherlands, Sweden, UK, Australia and France.

In the U.S., the list price was five times that of Japan ($169), which is the second most expensive.

Meanwhile, Wegovy, which is approved for diabetes and weight loss treatment, is currently only available in the US, Germany and the Netherlands.

At $1,349 a month in the US, Wegovy is almost four times more expensive than in Germany at $328.

In the Netherlands, Wegovy is even cheaper at $296 for a month.

A month’s supply of Libersus, a tablet rather than an injection of Ozempic’s active ingredient, also costs $936 in the United States. In Japan, Rybelsus is only $69.

The KFF said even with cost-cutting programs, US patients would still pay $225 for 28 days of Wegobee if their health insurance covered the drug. If not compensated, he will have to pay $500 more than twice as much in one month.

Wegovy, Ozempic and Rybelus are all brand names for the drug semaglutide manufactured by the Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.

Semaglutide mimics a hormone called GLP-1 that is released in response to food intake, boosting insulin production while also suppressing the user’s appetite.

The high price of this drug in the United States may also be due to demand.

The huge influx of foreign currency is pushing Denmark to keep interest rates low because Ozempic sales in the US are so high.

The KFF’s analysis states that “the impact of these drugs on a country’s total health care costs depends not only on the drug’s net price, but also on the number of people using it.” .