Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) said he has launched an investigation into Ozempic, a highly popular medication originally for diabetes and now used for obesity, which costs Americans over $900 before insurance but can be produced for less than $5 a month.
Alongside Wegovy, its sister drug, Ozempic has become a household name touted by celebrities from Elon Musk to Oprah Winfrey. Over the past year, demand for the drugs has exploded despite soaring costs and limited insurance coverage, transforming their maker, Copenhagen-based Novo Nordisk, into Europe’s most valuable company.
“The scientists at Novo Nordisk deserve great credit for developing these drugs that have the potential to be a game changer for millions of Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes and obesity,” Mr. Sanders said in a letter sent Wednesday to the Danish pharmaceutical company.
The letter highlighted the price gap for identical Novo Nordisk drugs sold in the United States and other developed countries. Novo’s website shows that Ozempic costs $935 a month for Americans without insurance, but it costs $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany. Similarly, Wegovy costs $1,349 a month for uninsured Americans, compared to $140 in Germany and $92 in the United Kingdom.
“As important as these drugs are, they will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them,” the senator wrote.
Mr. Sanders, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions, also pointed to a recent report estimating that Ozempic could retail for as little as 89 cents a month yet remain profitable.
For their study, researchers at Yale University, King’s College Hospital in London, and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders looked at the cost of manufacturing insulin and compared it with that of Ozempic. They estimated those price tags by combining manufacturing costs for the weekly injection with costs of formulation and other operating expenses, plus a profit margin with an allowance for tax.
The foundational price for a weekly dose of injectable semaglutide—the generic name for Ozempic—ranges from $0.89 to $4.73 per month, the study found. By contrast, a vial of human insulin can be manufactured at a cost between $2.37 and $5.94 per month.
“High prices limit access to newer diabetes medicines in many countries,” the authors wrote. “The findings of this study suggest that robust generic and bio-similar competition could reduce prices to more affordable levels and enable expansion of diabetes treatment globally.”
Citing the findings, Mr. Sanders criticized Novo for turning its weight loss drugs into “luxury goods” that are out of reach for Americans who need them while raking in a $12 billion profit.
“That is unacceptable,” said the self-styled democratic socialist.
He then claimed that the high prices of those products could “bankrupt ... our entire health care system.”
“The United States Congress and the federal government cannot allow that to happen,” he said, demanding that Novo explain how the price of its products is determined and disclose the amount it spends on research and development. He gave Novo Nordisk until May 8 to answer.
In response, Novo said that the company agrees with Mr. Sanders that access to the drugs is important, but emphasized that the reality of the healthcare industry is “extremely complex.” It previously said that it spent $5 billion on research and development in 2023 and will spend more than $6 billion this year to boost manufacturing to meet demand.
“We agree with the Chairman that access to these important treatments is essential for patients in Medicare, Medicaid and the commercial markets,” the spokesperson said in a statement.
“It’s easy to oversimplify the science that goes into understanding disease and developing and producing new treatments, as well as the intricacies of U.S. and global healthcare systems. However, the public debate doesn’t always take into account this extremely complex reality,” the statement read.
“Novo Nordisk remains committed to working with policymakers to advance solutions to support access and affordability for all patients, and we reiterated this commitment in our conversation with Chairman Sanders.”
