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Maker of Ozempic and Wegovy faces grilling over high cost of weight loss drugs (www.nbcnews.com)

submitted 3 months ago* (last edited 3 months ago) by MicroWave@lemmy.world to c/health@lemmy.world

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The chief executive of the drugmaker Novo Nordisk, Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen, is scheduled to face tough questions Tuesday on Capitol Hill about the high costs of the company’s widely popular weight-loss drugs.

Jørgensen will appear before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions during a livestreamed hearing Tuesday starting at 10 a.m. ET.

The head of the committee, Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., has been vocal about his frustrations over how much Novo Nordisk charges Americans for both Ozempic (used to treat type 2 diabetes) and Wegovy (approved for weight loss).

"In general, we pay by far the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Same exact medicine sold in Canada, Europe is a fraction of what it is in the United States," Sanders said in an interview Monday. "The result of that is that hundreds of thousands of people in this country who desperately need this product will not be able to afford it."

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[–] MrQuallzin@lemmy.world 18 points 3 months ago (1 children)

Technically speaking, Ozempic is a weight-loss drug. Both are semaglutide, with slight variations on dosing. It's not FDA approved as a weight loss drug, but can be used off-label for it.

I whole heartedly agree about influencers peddling them as miracle prescriptions. It just takes more away from the already limited stock.

[–] flicker@lemmy.world 8 points 3 months ago

Ozempic and Wegovy are identical chemicals. Ozempic is the name it goes by for treatment of type 2 diabetes, Wegovy is the name it goes by for weight loss.