The U.S. Senate health panel announced on Tuesday that it would vote this month on whether to subpoena Novo Nordisk to address questions about the high U.S. prices for its weight loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy, which are significantly higher than those in other countries. The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) stated that it will consider a subpoena for Novo Nordisk Inc President Doug Langa to testify at a July 10 hearing during its June 18 meeting.
Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the committee, stated, “The HELP Committee has repeatedly reached out to Novo Nordisk to request their voluntary attendance at a hearing to discuss why they are charging Americans up to 10 or 15 times more for the same product sold in other countries. Unfortunately, despite all our efforts, they have consistently denied our requests. We look forward to their presence at a hearing on July 10th.”
Novo Nordisk claimed that it had cooperated with the committee on multiple occasions and noted that global CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgenson was willing to testify. “Based on our continued cooperation, we feel that issuing a subpoena is unnecessary,” the company said in a statement.
Langa, whom the committee will vote on whether to subpoena, serves as Novo’s head of North America operations and president of Novo Nordisk Inc, the company’s U.S. subsidiary.
In April, Sanders sent a letter to Langa seeking more information on U.S. prices for the two drugs. Novo responded with a letter in May, blaming the U.S. health system for the high prices and stating that it retains about 60% of the list price for the drugs after rebates and fees paid to middlemen. According to the drugmaker’s website, a 2-milligram package of Ozempic carries a list price of $935.77 in the U.S., while Wegovy has a list price of $1,349.02 per package.
