Ozempic Maker Defends High U.S. Price, Claims It Reduces Obesity Costs

Novo Nordisk CEO, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen

defends the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy  in the U.S., saying they ultimately reduce taxpayer expenses on obesity-related health issues.

Jørgensen Defends The High Cost Of The Drug 

“If you look at just the cost of obesity in the U.S., it’s a disease that costs Americans more than $400 billion a year. And we are actually providing products that’s actually helping take that cost burden off.” Jørgensen said in an interview on NBC Nightly News.

Before the company’s “quiet period,” Jørgensen spoke to NBC News, calling accusations that the company was acting like a drug cartel,  “unfounded.”

Jørgensen is set to testify about the U.S. pricing of the company’s popular diabetes and weight loss drugs at a Senate committee hearing next month.

In a report by NBC News in June, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said he will ask 

Jørgensen of Novo Nordisk charges up to 10 to 15 times more for Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S. than any other countries, charging around $1,300 a month for Wegovy in the U.S., according to a HELP Committee report.

“The Price Of These Drugs Would Need To Come Down”

“It is clear that Novo Nordisk is ripping off the American people,” Sanders said.

Stacie Dusetzina, a health policy professor at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee, said  “For many people, these drugs might be a very good option for improving their health, but it is unlikely that they will reduce total spending. In general, the price of these drugs would need to come down a lot in order to have a chance for them to produce overall savings in health care spending.”

Jørgensen’s hearing to testify about drug announcements came three days after Sanders imperiled a vote to subpoena Novo Nordisk’s president, Doug Langa.

Jørgensen plans to discuss about “complexities of the U.S. healthcare system, which is a system we take part in but we cannot change,” 

“I do acknowledge that some patients have poor insurance. And if you have poor insurance, it can be difficult to afford your medicines. And for those we have patient support programs where we try to help them out,” said Jørgensen

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