(Reuters) – U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders stated on Tuesday he acquired affirmation from main generic pharmaceutical firms that they may promote copycat variations of Novo Nordisk (NYSE:)’s diabetes drug Ozempic for lower than $100 a month.
WHY IT’S IMPORTANT
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen is ready to testify earlier than the Senate Committee on Well being, Training, Labor and Pensions (HELP), which Sanders chairs, in a listening to subsequent week specializing in U.S. costs for its broadly widespread Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy.
KEY QUOTE
Sanders stated he spoke to the chief executives of a number of main generic drugmakers over the previous few months.
“They have studied the matter and they tell me that they can sell a generic version of Ozempic, the exact same drug that Novo Nordisk is manufacturing, to Americans for less than $100 per month,” he stated.
Sanders didn’t title the businesses to which he spoke. Ozempic’s patent just isn’t set to run out in the USA till 2032.
CONTEXT
Ozempic, which has the identical energetic ingredient as Wegovy and is used off-label for weight reduction, belongs to the favored GLP-1 class, which has seen overwhelming demand in the USA.
Some analysts have forecast the whole marketplace for weight-loss medication to achieve $150 billion by the early 2030s.
Nevertheless, this comes amid criticism from lawmakers over the excessive prices related to these drugs.
BY THE NUMBERS
A month’s provide of Novo’s Ozempic carries a U.S. listing worth of $935.77 whereas Wegovy lists for $1,349.02 per 30 days, in keeping with the drugmaker’s web site, though most shoppers pay much less.
