Ozempic could be $100 if the Feds Act Now

September 17, 2024

Ozempic could be $100 if the Feds Act Now

WASHINGTON, D.C. - Right now, Novo Nordisk is charging Americans more than $900 per month for the popular GLP-1diabetes and obesity drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, but they could be sold for less than $100 per month if the federal government steps in.

At a roundtable event Tuesday, Senator Bernie Sanders announced other manufacturers are prepared to sell generic versions of the GLP-1 drugs for less than $100 per month. Sen. Sanders said our healthcare system is "in crisis" and cautioned that if these drugs at current retail price were covered under Medicare, it could push the system into bankruptcy and double premiums for its enrollees.

In August, Public Citizen wroteto U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra calling on the government to facilitate generic competition against using its authority under existing law. Pharmaceutical manufacturer Novo Nordisk chargesAmericans up to 15 times morefor Ozempic and Wegovy than their peers in Canada, Japan, or Europe.

Public Citizen Access to Medicines program director Peter Maybarduk sayswith the stroke of a pen, the federal government could make these drugs cost a lot less for patients.

"Generics manufacturers are standing by to sell Ozempic for $100 or less," said Maybarduk. "All we need to make Ozempic for $100 a reality is to overcome Novo's patent monopoly, which the government has power to do any time under existing law. States and clinicians are asking the feds for help. We estimate taking action on Novo's patents could save Medicare more than $14 billion in the first two years of competition, while making diabetes and obesity drugs affordable."