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Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company that manufactures Ozempic, said that it is “very likely” the cost of the popular diabetes-turned-weight loss drug will be cut in the second round of Medicare drug price negotiations.
Ulrich Otte, the company’s senior vice president of finance and operations, made the claim at the Cantor Global Healthcare Conference in New York earlier this week, saying: “It is very likely that Ozempic will be part of negotiations in the coming round, and we’re ready for that.”
Without insurance, Ozempic can cost US patients, on average, $1,200 per month. In contrast, a month’s supply of the drug in Germany costs just $59.
In an op-ed published in USA Today in July, President Joe Biden noted that Novo Nordisk has made over $12 billion in profits by “ripping off” Americans for the drug, which can be manufactured for less than $5.
Ozempic and other semaglutide medications were originally developed to treat Type 2 diabetes — but are increasingly being used for weight loss.
For decades, the federal government had been barred from bartering with pharmaceutical companies over the price of their drugs, even though it’s a routine process for private insurers.
“This meant that drug companies could basically charge whatever they want for life-saving treatments people rely on, and all Americans paid the price,” White House adviser Neera Tanden previously claimed.
However, in 2022, Congress passed the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), which allows the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) to negotiate the price of name-brand medications.
In August, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that it would lower the price for 10 of Medicare’s most popular and costliest drugs, effective January 1, 2026.
The CMS will select 15 more drugs for price negotiations in February of next year, and Ozempic is expected to be among them.
In an emailed statement, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Quartz: “We can’t speculate on which Novo Nordisk medicines will be selected for future negotiations with [the] Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS). We have opposed government price setting through the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) and have serious concerns about how the law is being implemented.”
In his USA Today op-ed, President Biden specifically called out the makers of Ozempic for their price gouging tactics, writing: “Novo Nordisk is charging the American people unconscionably high prices for these prescription drugs. If your doctor prescribes you a GLP-1, the prices of Ozempic and Wegovy can be up to six times higher than prices in Canada, Germany, Denmark, and other major countries. That’s unacceptable.”
In April, the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) launched an investigation into Ozempic pricing. HELP found the net cost of the drug in the U.S. is significantly higher than in other countries.
The prohibitive price of Ozempic has led some consumers to seek our illegal online pharmacies peddling faux or substandard versions of the drug.
This news of Ozempic price cuts comes on the heels, or tablet, of Novo Nordisk developing a weight loss pill that mirrors the effects of Ozempic. According to new trial results, the pharmaceutical company says Amycretin can cause weight loss of up to 13% in three months.
