The CEO of Novo Nordisk is defending the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy in America, saying the blockbuster drugs are ultimately saving taxpayers money on obesity-related costs. “If you look at just the cost of obesity in the U.S.
, it’s a disease that costs Americans more than $400 billion a year ,” Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said in an interview on “NBC Nightly News,” “And we are actually providing products that’s actually helping take that cost burden off.” Tune into “NBC Nightly News” at 6:30 p.m.
ET/5:30 p.m. CT tonight for more.
Jørgensen, who spoke to NBC News before the company's "quiet period" ahead of their last earnings report, called accusations that the company is operating as a drug cartel “unfounded.” His comments come ahead of a highly anticipated Senate committee hearing in September, where he is scheduled to testify about the U.S.
pricing of the drugmaker’s hugely popular diabetes and weight loss drugs. Vermont Sen. Bernie Sanders, chair of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, told NBC News in June that he plans to ask Jørgensen why the drugmaker charges up to 10 to 15 times more for Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.
S. than it does in other countries. Novo Nordisk charges around $1,300 a month for Wegovy in the U.
S., according to a HELP Committee report, while the drug can be purchased for $186 a month in Denmark; $137 in Germany; and $92 in the United Kingdom. “It is clear that Novo Nordisk is ripping off the American.