WASHINGTON – US President Donald Trump said on Oct 16 that the price of Novo Nordisk’s best-selling weight-loss drug would be lowered and that negotiations over price changes would be swift.
Mr Trump made the comments during a White House event on fertility treatments and drug pricing.
He was asked by reporters to identify the name of a drug that he earlier in the event said would be made less expensive.
“I was referring to Ozempic, or – I was referring to – the fat loss drug?… They’ll be much lower,” Mr Trump said.
Novo sells Ozempic for managing diabetes while Wegovy is approved for weight loss.
Both drugs contain the same active ingredient, semaglutide.
Asked for comment, a Novo spokesperson said: “Novo Nordisk has engaged in discussions with the administration regarding the Most Favoured Nation executive order.”
The spokesperson said the company was focused on improving patient access and affordability, but did not comment directly on Mr Trump’s remarks.
Mr Trump earlier said that under his administration’s plans, the price of the drug would be reduced to US$150 (S$193.97) from US$1,300.
Ozempic has a list price of about US$1,000 for a month’s supply but is sold directly by Novo to cash-pay customers for US$499 per month.
During the same White House event, Dr Mehmet Oz, who runs the Centres for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said that the agency had not yet finished negotiating the price for GLP-1 drugs, which are used to treat diabetes and obesity.
Novo’s Ozempic is one of the drugs that the agency has chosen for price negotiations. REUTERS
Source link
-
-
-
-
-
