United States: Not too far behind when it has come to shedding light on drug price increases within this widely prescribed diabetes and obesity medication portfolio was an interview by the CEO of Danish pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
The Danish CEO responded to public outcry and said that their price structure is defensible at great length when life-altering drugs are discussed or, speaking of, reiterating their value against costs to society and the healthcare system.
What more has the CEO stated?
Jørgensen explained that when one looks at prices with regard to Ozempic and Wegovy, these drugs, on the whole, reduce the economic cost of dealing with this dreadful disease—a condition currently costing the economy in the United States approximately USD 400 billion every year.
“We are providing products that help alleviate some of that financial pressure,” Jørgensen insisted, suggesting that benefits from these medications are worth their cost.
However, the defense by the CEO has not succeeded in curbing criticism from some key individuals, such as U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders, who heads the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee. Sanders has issued a blistering attack about the present spike in the price of drugs developed by pharmaceutical companies, with a special focus on life-saving drugs.
Sanders has gone further, saying Novo Nordisk sells these same drugs in the United States for 15 times what it does anywhere else in the world, calling the practice exploitative. “It’s clear that Novo Nordisk is taking advantage of the American people,” said Sanders flatly, underscoring rising frustrations from lawmakers and the American public.
High cost impact on patients
Speaking in response to the accusations, Jørgensen said one big factor for the high costs was just the complexity of the American healthcare system.
He explained that while Novo Nordisk sets the list prices for the company’s medications, much of what patients ultimately pay is negotiated by insurance companies and PBMs, each of which adds different costs and copays. It is a tangled system, according to Jørgensen, which contributes to putting financial strain on patients—no single culprit.
Jørgensen has testified before a Senate Committee and has further commented that he would shed light on such systemic issues.
Additionally, he said that he was open to listening on the way forward in having this life-saving medicine available to Americans. “We need to tackle it as an industry, with the entire supply chain represented,” shows that he may be willing to some reform.
Whereas two prescription weight-loss drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, might work wonders in preventing and reversing obesity-related diseases, the high cost is what raises a missing factor to the medical fraternity.
What experts have said?
According to results from Cynthia Cox of the Kaiser Family Foundation, while the off-label use of the drugs in weight loss has lately picked up, the practice is still in its nascent stages. “It’s hard to really know that the gains will exceed the costs,” says Cox, a sentiment that reflects a general cautious approach as debate over the pricing of drugs heat up.
As the increasing discussions about the unaffordability of life-saving drugs spread, like Ozempic and Wegovy, Jørgensen, and Novo Nordisk are put on the dotted line to justify price setting.
It will have to navigate the labyrinthine setting of the U.S. healthcare system while facing ethical concerns voiced by critics and lawmakers. The effect of this debate may be huge for the whole pharmaceutical industry, not only Novo Nordisk, since it, in fact, wrestles with how to balance profitability against public health concerns.