Updated Sep 24, 2024 - Health

Ozempic maker's CEO blames insurance companies for weight-loss drug prices

April Rubin

An image of congressional testimony — Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, chief executive officer Novo Nordisk A/S, during a Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C. on Sept. 24. Photo: Al Drago/Bloomberg via Getty Images

The chief executive of the company behind Ozempic and Wegovy blamed insurers and middlemen for the high costs of weight-loss drugs in the U.S. during a congressional testimony on Tuesday.

Why it matters: Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, who leads drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk, passed along accountability for access to these medications while being questioned about his company's role in setting prices.

"We don't decide the price for patients. That is set by the insurance companies," Jørgensen said.

Context: Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), last week outlined concerns that the high costs of these drugs could bankrupt Medicare and increase insurance premiums to unaffordable rates.

"All we are saying, Mr. Jørgensen, is treat the American people the same way that you treat people all over the world," Sanders said on Tuesday. "Stop ripping us off."

State of play: Ozempic has become a popular drug for treating diabetes and Wegovy for obesity and heart disease. Novo Nordisk manufactures both drugs.

Access to these drugs has been inequitable, an August study found. Patients on Medicare and Medicaid appear less likely to be able to access them than those with private coverage.

Behind the scenes: Sanders said he received a commitment from major pharmacy benefit managers not to limit coverage to these drugs if Novo Nordisk substantially reduced the list prices.

"I'd be happy to do anything to help patients," Jørgensen said when asked if he'd be willing for a Novo Nordisk representative to sit in front of Congress with these companies.
Sen. Maggie Hassan (D-N.H.) said she'd follow up with Jørgensen separately to ask for a commitment to "not stand in the way" of other companies creating generic or biosimilar versions of these medications to lower costs.

By the numbers: The price of both drugs is higher in the U.S. than in other countries even with rebates, per Sanders.

For Ozempic, Americans pay about $969 per month, compared with $59 in Germany, $71 in France, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada, Sanders said on Tuesday.
Wegovy costs $1,349 per month in the U.S., nearly 15 times as much as it costs in the United Kingdom, he said.

Go deeper: Access is unequal to weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy: study

Editor's note: The story has been updated with additional details from the hearing.

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Ozempic maker's CEO blames insurance companies for weight-loss drug prices

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