How manufacturer Ozempic makes money in the USA

"Astronomical prices." How manufacturer Ozempic makes money in the USA

Photo: IMAGO / Didier Lebrun / Global Look Press

According to Senator Sanders, European drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are sold in the United States at a markup of 1,300%, which undermines the country's healthcare system. Why a breakthrough obesity treatment threatens the US but will lead to an economic boom around the world

Diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy from the Danish company Novo Nordisk have gained extraordinary popularity over the past few years. Consumers noticed that they lost weight while taking the medications, and began using them to reduce body weight for obesity and more.

Explosive demand for innovative development has made the company the most valuable in Europe with a capitalization of $629 billion, and Denmark now ranks third in the ranking of European countries with the highest GDP per capita, behind only Luxembourg and Ireland.

About 66% of Ozempic's sales and more than 90% of Wegovy's sales in 2023 came from the US, where nearly half of the female population (43.82%) is obese, according to World Obesity. For Novo Nordisk, this is a key market and the main source of income. The company expects that in 2024 it will receive $18 billion from the sale of Ozempic and $9 billion from Wegovy, with the majority of the revenue coming from American consumers.

At the same time, prices for Novo Nordisk drugs in the United States are more than 1000% higher than prices in Europe and Canada, the US Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions noted in March. For example, in the US, a monthly course of treatment with Wegovy costs $1,349, while in Germany it costs $140, and in the UK it costs $92. The situation is similar with Ozempic: $969 in the US compared to $155 in Canada and $59 in Germany. The head of the committee, Bernie Sanders, said that the “outrageous” high prices for Novo Nordisk products could “bankrupt American healthcare” and US citizens.

“The American people are tired of being ripped off by giant pharmaceutical companies that make huge profits every year by charging us outrageous prices,” Bernie Sanders said in June.

The senator threatened to sue the company, but the head of Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, agreed to appear personally before the committee and explain why the drugs Ozempic and Wegovy are sold at a premium. “The committee looks forward to Mr. Jorgensen explaining why Americans pay ten to 15 times more for these drugs than people in other countries,” Bernie Sanders added, calling the Danish company's prices a ripoff.