Key Takeaways
- Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will testify Tuesday before a Senate panel looking into the drug maker’s pricing of weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic.
- The committee accused the company of charging “outrageously high prices” for the treatments.
- Jorgensen has defended the costs, and said most Americans with insurance pay $25 a month for Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk’s (NVO) U.S.-listed shares lost ground Monday, a day before a Senate hearing on the costs of the company’s popular weight-loss drugs Wegovy and Ozempic.
CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen is scheduled to testify Tuesday from the company’s home in Denmark before the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee.
Novo Nordisk Accused of Charging ‘Outrageously High Prices’
The committee accused the company of charging “outrageously high prices” for its treatments.
The committee said Americans with Type 2 diabetes pay $969 a month for Ozempic, compared to $155 in Canada, $122 in Denmark, and $59 in Germany. It added that Americans are charged $1,349 a month for Wegovy, more than the $186 in Denmark, $140 in Germany, and $92 in the United Kingdom.
In an interview with NBC News last month, Jorgensen defended the company’s pricing, saying that insurance coverage varies from country to country, and that most Americans with health insurance pay $25 a month for Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk shares were down 3.3% at $123.55 in intraday trading Monday, extending Friday’s losses after the company reported disappointing results from a study of an experimental weight-loss treatment. Still, they are up about 19% from the start of the year.
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