WASHINGTON (TND) — The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions held a hearing on Tuesday to discuss popular drug maker Novo Nordisk lowering prices for blockbuster weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
Lawmakers pressed CEO Lars Jorgensen, who shifted a lot of the blame to the pharmacy benefits managers. Jorgensen said that for every dollar the company makes, 74 cents goes to PBMs.
C. Michael White is a professor in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Connecticut. He said some weight-loss drugs in the U.S. are quite expensive.
"They're going to cost you a little over $1,000 a month," said White.
Drug maker Novo Nordisk makes two of those drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy. The company's CEO discussed the drugs' high prices on Tuesday.
"We don't decide the price for patients. That's set by the insurance companies," Jorgensen said.
Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., who chairs the committee, demanded answers as to why the drugs cost so much.
It is a profound moral issue," said Sanders.
Sanders said Americans pay $969/month for Ozempic compared to $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany. Jorgensen argues the prices aren't just determined by his company.
"It is clear patients too often struggle to navigate the complex U.S. healthcare system," said Jorgensen.
Madeline Summerville, an attorney at Georgia Trail Consulting said that Tuesday's hearing was an opportunity for lawmakers to directly ask why Americans are paying so much.
"They wanted the person who was the CEO of the company to come and account for why they're charging so much," Summerville said.
Jorgensen did agree to meet with pharmacy benefits managers to discuss the possibility of lowering prices but Summerville believes to get to the root of the problem more needs to be done.
"What is the reason that they're getting away with gouging the prices?" said Summerville.