President Joe Biden, who has challenged the pharmaceutical industry for decades, joined Sen. Bernie Sanders' clash with Novo Nordisk in a July 2 op-ed published in USA Today.
President Biden and Mr. Sanders criticized Novo Nordisk's "corporate greed" and accused the company of "price gouging" in regard to its popular GLP-1 medications, Ozempic and Wegovy.
"Today, tens of millions of Americans are struggling with Type 2 diabetes and obesity. The good news is that Novo Nordisk, one of the world's leading pharmaceutical companies, has created new blockbuster drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, that effectively treat these conditions," President Biden and Mr. Sanders wrote in USA Today. "The bad news is that Novo Nordisk is charging the American people unconscionably high prices for these prescription drugs."
If half of all Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries who are obese took Wegovy and other new weight loss drugs, CMS could spend $166 billion per year, they said in the op-ed. Mr. Sanders has previously said these drugs have the potential to bankrupt Medicare and the entire healthcare system.
"Prescription drug companies also must stop ripping off the American people," President Biden and Mr. Sanders said.
They called for Novo Nordisk to substantially reduce their list prices. The company said it already has.
"We are disappointed that a very difficult and complex problem is being oversimplified and mischaracterized for political purposes," a Novo Nordisk spokesperson told Becker's. "Each country has its own healthcare system and making isolated and limited comparisons ignores this fundamental concern."
The company's statement echoes its previous comments about Sen. Sanders' campaign against the GLP-1s' prices in the U.S. In May, Novo Nordisk said the scrutiny on the U.S. cost of Ozempic and Wegovy is "misplaced." In response to price comparisons with other countries — the drugs are 10 to 15 times cheaper in some countries — Novo Nordisk said rebates and pharmacy benefit managers complicate the matter.
"Unfortunately, even when we lower our prices, patients in the United States often don't receive the savings — this is a problem," the Denmark-based drugmaker said. "We will continue to cooperate with policymakers on real solutions and are proud of the benefit our discoveries have brought to treat and defeat chronic diseases like diabetes and obesity."