Ozempic maker to testify before Senate committee on weight loss drug prices

Washington — Lawmakers will question the maker of popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic And Routes during a Senate committee hearing on Tuesday focused on what Senator Bernie Sanders called ““outrageously high” prices The Americans pay for the medicines.

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen testified before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sanders.

Sanders, an independent from Vermont, told reporters on Monday that the hearing was about “simply asking Novo Nordisk why they continue to rip off the American people.”

“The majority of their revenue is generated here in the United States,” Sanders said. “We are their cash cow.”

The drugmaker has set prices for Ozempic and Wegovy significantly higher than in other countries. The committee found earlier this year that Novo Nordisk charges Americans with diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic, compared to $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany. For Wegovy, the committee found that Novo Nordisk charges Americans with obesity $1,349 a month, compared to $140 in Germany and $92 in the United Kingdom.

The popular weight loss drugs known as GLP-1 agonistsare commonly used by people with diabetes and obesity and have seen demand soar over the past year. But 54% of adults who have taken a GLP-1 drug – even those with insurance – said the cost was “difficult” to pay, according to a KFF survey released in May.

Meanwhile, a recent study from Yale University suggests that it would be profitable to produce these drugs at “significantly lower” prices than Americans currently pay.

Ahead of the hearing, Sanders said the pharmaceutical company must be required to “significantly reduce the price of its product” and not charge Americans more than people in other countries.

The pharmaceutical company defended its pricing in a statement ahead of the hearing, saying: “We know it is frustrating that each country has its own health care system, but isolated and limited comparisons ignore this fundamental fact.” At the same time, it claimed that even when the company lowers its prices, patients in the United States all too often do not notice any savings.

Alan Er and Anna Werner contributed to this report.