(NewsNation) — The CEO of the company which makes popular drugs Ozempic and Wegovy was grilled by lawmakers over the medications’ high prices in the United States.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt. called the hearing after learning that Americans pay $969 for the weight loss and diabetes drug Ozemic — but Novo Nordisk charges $155 for the same drug in Canada and only $59 in Germany. Sanders accused Novo Nordisk of unfairly jacking up the price of both drugs, making it out of reach for millions of Americans, NewsNation parent company Nexstar reported.
“It is not just an issue of corporate greed. It is a profound moral issue,” Sanders, chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, said, according to Nexstar.
Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, however, said that lowering the prices could result in unintended consequences like the drug being dropped completely from insurance companies.
“You have said that our amazing medicines can’t help patients if they can’t afford them. That is true,” Jørgensen said. “It is also true that the full value of Ozempic and Wegovy can only be realized if patients can access them, patients need both affordability and access.”