Vermont Sen. Sanders: Pharma companies charge more than $1,000 for diabetes drug that costs $5 to make

By avagrace // 2024-09-25

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U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) has accused pharmaceutical companies of price gouging, alleging that they charge almost $1,000 for diabetes drugs that only cost them a measly $5 to manufacture. The lawmaker zeroed in on pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, on Sept. 17. He slammed the company for charging Americans more than $900 a month for Ozempic. According to Reuters, Novo Nordisk sells Wegovy for $1,349 a dose and Ozempic for $935 a dose. During a panel discussion with experts, Sanders said he and his staff have been in touch with executives of major drug firms. These drug firms, he continued, could sell a generic version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month and still turn a profit. A study published March 27 in JAMA Network backed up the Vermont senator's points. According to the paper, a month's supply of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy could be manufactured for an estimated 89 cents to $4.73. Given this, the study authors concluded that GLP-1 drugs "can likely be manufactured for prices far below current prices, enabling wider access." "Novo Nordisk, which has made nearly $50 billion in sales off of Ozempic and Wegovy, charges Americans almost $1,000 a month – the highest prices in the world," Sanders said. "Why? Excessive corporate greed." According to his office, Novo Nordisk sells Wegovy at lower prices in other countries. It is sold in Denmark for $186 and costs $140 in Germany. Meanwhile, Wegovy – which contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic – costs only $92 in the United Kingdom. (Related: DYING TO LOSE WEIGHT: Study finds alarming link between popular weight loss drugs and increase in suicidality.) Reuters reported that the senator seeks to lower the price of Ozempic to $155, which is the same price for the drug in Canada. Sanders ultimately warned that Medicare premiums could surge if the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy aren't reined in. "Our healthcare system, I think most people understand, is in crisis. The business model of the pharmaceutical industry is unsustainable."

Sanders optimistic that Novo Nordisk will bow to pressure, lower prices

According to Reuters, the senator for the Green Mountain State is confident that Novo Nordisk can be pressured to lower its prices for the two GLP-1 drugs by shaming it. "I think the major thing that we can do, and we've done this successfully in the past with insulin … is to put a focus on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry in general – and Novo Nordisk in particular – in terms of them ripping off the American people," he said. A Novo Nordisk spokesperson wrote a letter to the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee chaired by Sanders in response to his remarks. According to their letter, the net prices of Ozempic and Wegovy have dropped since their launch. More than 80 percent of Americans with insurance pay $25 or less per month for the drugs, the Novo Nordisk spokesperson added. The spokesperson lamented that those savings do not make their way to the general public because of pharmacy benefit managers, who act as middlemen between drug companies and consumers. But according to the senator, the price drop wasn't enough. People paying that amount continue to be affected by the high prices because insurance companies still pay a lot for the drugs, he added. This, in turn, drives up insurance prices as well as hospital costs. "It is very hard for any company, especially one that is making record-breaking profits, to defend itself when they are charging the American people many times more for the same exact drug than they charge people in other countries." Visit BigPharmaNews.com for similar stories. Watch retired chiropractor Dr. Bryan Ardis warning that weight loss drugs like Ozempic and Wegovy can cause cancer. This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.

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Sanders optimistic that Novo Nordisk will bow to pressure, lower prices

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