The research found that a weekly injection of semaglutide — which is the generic name for Ozempic — can be manufactured at a cost between $0.89 and $4.73 per month.
The monthly price for Ozempic is $935 for four weekly injections, according to Novo Nordisk’s website. The manufacturer’s weight loss drug Wegovy is also a semaglutide injection. Its list price is about $1,349 per month.
“As Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), I am calling on Novo Nordisk to lower the list price of Ozempic — and the related drug Wegovy — in America to no more than what they charge for this drug in Canada,” Sanders said in a statement.
“The American people are sick and tired of paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs while the pharmaceutical industry enjoys huge profits.”
Novo Nordisk said in a statement to The Hill that it offers a “number of options” at its website to address affordability concerns.
Sanders has had some success pressuring drug companies into lowering prices.
Novo Nordisk capped the prices of some of its “legacy” insulin products last year at $35, along with Eli Lilly and Company and Sanofi. These price cuts went into effect at the start of this year.
This month, three of the four major inhaler manufacturers all announced plans to cap patient copays for all their inhalers at $35— though some experts have pointed to a recent change in Medicaid rebates as the reason.
