Sen. Bernie Sanders grilled Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen throughout a Tuesday Senate listening to concerning the price of its weight-loss medication within the U.S.
In opening remarks earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee, Sanders argued that Novo’s Ozempic prices over 15 instances extra within the U.S. than in Germany and that Wegovy is almost 15 instances costlier within the U.S. in comparison with the U.Okay. Each medication, which have the identical energetic ingredient however totally different accepted makes use of, have surged in recognition within the U.S. market.
Jorgensen stated that the danger of reducing listing costs is that the pharmacy profit managers (PBMs) would drop protection of them. He used Levemir, a long-acting insulin that was discontinued in January, for example.
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Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen speaks throughout a TV interview in New York, on Aug. 10, 2022. (Christopher Goodney/Bloomberg through Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
Jorgensen stated after the corporate dropped the listing value by 65%, PBMs dropped protection of the product. The drug went from being on 90% of insurance coverage to about 35%.
Sanders argued that he obtained written commitments from the main PBMs that if “Novo Nordisk, substantially reduced the list for Ozempic and Wegovy, they would not limit coverage. In fact, all of them told me they would be able to expand coverage for these drugs if the list price was reduced.”
Given this, Sanders requested Jorgensen if the corporate would decide to considerably lowering the listing value of those medication within the U.S.
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The chief government, who took over in 2017, stated he’d be comfortable to “do anything that helps patients,” however would not know beneath what situations these guarantees have been made.
Virtually all U.S. business insurance coverage cowl Ozempic and about half cowl Wegovy, in keeping with Jorgensen. He stated that 80% of all Individuals with insurance coverage have entry to those medicines at $25.
Jorgensen stated it isn’t the corporate’s intention for anybody to pay the listing value and that it “is a starting point for negotiations against the PBMs and insurance companies.”
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen testified earlier than the Senate Well being, Schooling, Labor and Pensions Committee on Tuesday. (JOEL SAGET/AFP through Getty Photographs / Getty Photographs)
Sanders stated that “if you are uninsured, you pay the full list price. If you have a large deductible, you pay the full list price. If you have co-insurance, the percentage of the price you pay at the pharmacy counter is based on the list price.”
The senator continued, saying that in one of the best case, the corporate is charging Individuals practically $600 for Ozempic with all of the rebates and all of the reductions, which is “over nine times as much as people in Germany pay for the product.”
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Ozempic was accepted by federal well being officers in 2017 and marketed for medical use within the remedy of Kind 2 diabetes “with weight loss as a secondary effect of the drug’s effects and mechanism of action.”
Wegovy was accepted in 2021 for persistent weight administration in adults who’re overweight or chubby and have at the least one weight-related situation.
