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US Congress calls on Novo Nordisk to lower drug prices

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The weight loss drug sells for US$1,349 a month in the US, nearly 15 times more than in the UK.

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Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, president and CEO of Novo Nordisk, testifies during a US Congress hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP pic)

WASHINGTON:
The boss of the Danish pharmaceutical giant behind the blockbuster diabetes and weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy promised Tuesday to examine lowering their prices in the US, after coming under pressure from Congress.

The stakes are high for US patients, some of whom have difficulty accessing and affording the drugs under the often unwieldy and expensive health care system in the United States.

“If not made affordable, Americans throughout this country will needlessly die,” left-wing Senator Bernie Sanders told Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen at a congressional hearing.

“Ozempic is sold in Canada for US$155, in Denmark for US$122, in France for US$71, and in Germany for US$59. In the US, Novo Nordisk charges us US$969,” Sanders continued.

Ozempic was originally developed as a drug to treat diabetes. Wegovy, which targets weight loss, sells for US$1,349 a month in the US, nearly 15 times as much as it costs in the United Kingdom, Sanders continued.

“Will you commit today that Novo Nordisk will substantially reduce the list price of these drugs in the US, so that the American people are not paying higher prices, far higher prices for these drugs than the people in Europe and Canada?” Sanders asked.

“Anything that will help patients get access to affordable medicine, will be happy to look into,” Jorgenson replied – though he pointed out that 80% of Americans with health insurance paid US$25 or less a month.

Jorgenson also noted that the high prices were partly driven by other players, namely Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs), who act as intermediaries between insurance companies and drug manufacturers, negotiating discounts and listing covered treatments.

PBMs receive a fee based on list price – so, “the higher list price, the more fee they get for the same job,” Jorgenson said.

“Which means that, in our experience, products that comes with a low list price get less coverage (from health insurers),” he continued.

For example, he said, when Novo Nordisk lowered the cost of insulin treatments, their drugs were taken off the list of medications covered by health care plans, so less patients got access to those insulins.

“So I have a bit of concern how this could play out,” he said.

Sanders replied that he had received promises from three major PBMs not to limit coverage of Ozempic and Wegovy if their prices were lowered.

“Do I have your commitment that you will sit down with the three companies to make sure that they keep that commitment?” he asked Jorgenson.

“Yes, anything that can help patients get access, I’m supportive of,” the Danish CEO replied.

US president Joe Biden has previously called for drug prices to be lowered in the US, saying firms must stop “ripping off the American people.”

High prices for prescription drugs have been a long-standing problem for American patients, and Biden has focused on lowering health care costs.

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