Senate committee opens investigation into Ozempic, Wegovy prices
Lawmakers announced Wednesday they will be investigating the price of Ozempic and Wegovy.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions called the prices of the drugs “outrageously high” in the United States.
The popular Type 2 diabetes medication and weight loss drugs are made by Novo Nordisk. The demand in the U.S. caused a shortage.
In an announcement Thursday, the Senate committee said the company charges Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic. The same drug is sold for $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany.
Wegovy prices are similar, at $1,349 a month in the U.S. and $92 in the United Kingdom.
A study by Yale University earlier this year found both drugs can be manufactured for less than $5 a month.
Committee chair Bernie Sanders asked Novo Nordisk’s CEO for more transparency on how the price is determined in a letter to the company.
Sanders wrote, in part, “As important as these drugs are, they will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them. Further, if the prices for these products are not substantially reduced they also have the potential to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and our entire health care system. The United States Congress and the federal government cannot allow that to happen."
