Sanders: Generics Can Offer Ozempic Under $100/Month

Ahead of a Senate health committee hearing next week with Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen, Senator Bernie Sanders has announced that he has received commitments from generic drug manufacturers to offer a substantially lower monthly price than the current $969 charged to Americans for Novo Nordisk’s popular medication.

Senator Bernie Sanders, who heads the Senate health committee, revealed on Tuesday that generic versions of Novo Nordisk’s type 2 diabetes drug Ozempic could be made and sold profitably for less than $100 a month. In a committee’s expert roundtable discussion, Sanders shared that several generic drug company CEOs have confirmed to him that Ozempic generics—the same drug produced by Novo Nordisk—could indeed be sold at a much lower price. Currently, Novo Nordisk charges nearly $1,000 per month for the drug in the United States.

This announcement comes just before a Senate health committee hearing where Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, CEO of Novo Nordisk, is scheduled to testify about the company’s pricing strategies for Ozempic and Wegovy. Sanders has been vocal about what he describes as the “outrageously high prices” of Ozempic and Wegovy, the latter being a semaglutide brand prescribed for chronic weight management. In April 2024, Sanders initiated an investigation into Novo Nordisk’s pricing, criticizing how these drugs are significantly more expensive in the U.S. compared to other countries.

According to Sanders, while a monthly supply of Ozempic costs $969 in the U.S., patients in Canada and Germany can obtain it for $155 and $59, respectively. Wegovy is priced at $1,349 per month in the U.S., but only $92 in the U.K. Sanders argues that these high prices could potentially “bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and our entire healthcare system.”

At the roundtable, Sanders pointed out that despite top pharmaceutical companies making over $110 billion in profits last year, one in four Americans cannot afford their prescribed medication. He cited a March 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, which found that injectable semaglutide could be produced at a profit for less than $5 per month. The study also indicated that other GLP-1 therapies could be manufactured at significantly lower costs than their current prices, suggesting that competition from biosimilars and generics could further drive prices down.

In July 2024, Sanders co-authored an opinion piece with President Joe Biden, published in USA Today, criticizing both Novo Nordisk and its competitor Eli Lilly for what they described as "unconscionably high prices" for their therapies.

Novo Nordisk has significantly benefited from its leadership in the profitable obesity market. In 2023, the company reported around $33.7 billion in sales, surpassing analyst expectations due to a 38% increase in GLP-1 diabetes revenues and an astonishing 147% growth in its obesity portfolio. Meanwhile, Eli Lilly reported over $34 billion in 2023 revenue, marking a 20% increase year-over-year. Eli Lilly’s tirzepatide brands Mounjaro and Zepbound generated $5.1 billion and $176 million, respectively.