Maia Cook, OpenSecrets
July 26, 2024
Boxes of the diabetes drug Ozempic rest on a pharmacy counter on April 17, 2023, in Los Angeles. - Mario Tama/Getty Images North America/TNS
This article originally appeared in OpenSecrets.
Novo Nordisk — the pharmaceutical giant behind popular weight-loss drugs Ozempic and Wegovy — spent a record $3.2 million on lobbying in the first six months of 2024 as the Denmark-based company expanded its footprint in the United States.
In 2017, after two years of clinical trials, the Food and Drug Administration approved Novo Nordisk’s injectable weight-loss drug Ozempic strictly for adults with Type 2 diabetes. Four years later, the FDA approved Wegovy, another weight-loss drug that is not strictly for type 2 patients but contains the same active ingredient as Ozempic, semaglutide.
Although Ozempic was originally approved for patients with diabetes, some non-diabetics buy it for the purpose of general weight loss under “off-label” prescriptions. The popularity of these prescriptions has contributed to a shortage of Ozempic in the United States, leaving it out of the hands of those who need it most.
An estimated 15.5 million Americans, or 6% of the U.S. population, have reported using injectable weight-loss drugs, according to a Gallup poll released in May. These drugs rose in popularity in 2023 as Novo Nordisk launched an aggressive advertising campaign, spending a total of $471 million to market Ozempic and Wegovy in one year.
In 2023, Novo Nordisk and its U.S. subsidiary, Novozymes North America, spent over $5 million on lobbying, hiring a whopping 77 lobbyists across 13 firms. This marked a 51% increase from the number of lobbyists hired in 2022. Of those, 54 previously held government jobs, bringing insider knowledge and industry connections to each role.
Novo Nordisk lobbied a total of six bills in 2023, all of which were related to the pharmaceutical industry. Among these were the Treat and Reduce Obesity Act of 2023, the Affordable Prescriptions for Patients Act of 2023, and the FAIR Labels Act of 2023, all targeted at making medical care more accessible, equitable, and transparent to all Americans.
In addition to its lobbying efforts, Novo Nordisk has also been actively making campaign contributions in the U.S., spending over $497,000 between its PAC, employees, and executives in the 2023-2024 cycle, as of July 16.
Novo Nordisk currently charges around $1,000 for a month’s supply of Ozempic injections. The high cost of this medicine has been criticized for squeezing low-income patients with diabetes out of the market for life-changing drugs.
Medicare only covers Ozempic when it is used to treat patients with diabetes. Similarly, Wegovy is only covered for patients at cardiovascular risk. Yet, when used for general weight loss, Medicare does not cover the cost of Ozempic or Wegovy.
Novo Nordisk hired a law firm, Arnold & Porter, to lobby for Ozempic to be covered by Medicare as more and more Americans became customers in 2023.
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) argues that the high price of these weight-loss drugs has the power to bankrupt the Medicaid system. In June, Sen. Sanders threatened to subpoena Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen, criticizing Novo Nordisk’s high American price tag on Ozempic when it is significantly lower in other countries.
“The American people are sick and tired of paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. Novo Nordisk currently charges Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic, while this same exact drug can be purchased for just $155 in Canada and just $59 in Germany.”
Jorgensen voluntarily agreed to testify in a Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing in September. The name of the hearing: “Why Is Novo Nordisk Charging Americans with Diabetes and Obesity Outrageously High Prices for Ozempic and Wegovy?”
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