Novo Nordisk’s chief executive will tell US senators on Tuesday that the Danish company has spent vast sums in research and development of its blockbuster obesity and diabetes drugs Wegovy and Ozempic, as he defends the price of his drugs.
Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will appear before the Senate committee on health, education, labour and pensions chaired by progressive senator Bernie Sanders, who has said the company is “ripping off the American people” by setting wholesale prices up to 15 times higher than in some European countries.
Ozempic and Wegovy have list prices of $969 and $1,349. In a written statement submitted to the committee, Jorgensen said that lowering these prices would not “consistently alleviate” prices for consumers, due to an insurance system based on rebates to industry middlemen known as pharmacy benefit managers.