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A new generation of weight loss drugs sells for about $1,350 a month, but costs just $22 to manufacture, according to a new study from Yale University.
Similarly, lifesaving insulin can be produced for less than $250 a year, but there was pressure from the Biden administration to lower out-of-pocket costs for many Americans to about $420 a year, the study found.
Everyone wants to complain about drug companies overcharging for their drugs, but we almost never know how much it actually costs to get from the bench to the patient’s bloodstream. It was impossible.
Now, a postdoctoral researcher at Yale University, with the help of Médecins Sans Frontières, a global nonprofit that negotiates with drug companies, has provided rare transparency into the manufacturing costs of weight loss and diabetes drugs. . And, perhaps coincidentally, the information was provided by pharmaceutical giant Sanofi. – Submit to Senate Committee.
According to Sen. Bernie Sanders, when the curtain was pulled back, the prices were found to be “exorbitant.” He issued the statement shortly after the study was published in the journal JAMA Network Open late Wednesday. He specifically singled out the diabetes drug Ozempic, which contains the same active ingredient as the weight loss drug Wegovy. Both are manufactured by Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk.
“Ozempic has the potential to transform the diabetes and obesity epidemic in the United States,” Sanders said in a statement. “But unless we significantly lower the price of this drug, millions of people who need it will not be able to afford it. Furthermore, this prohibitively high price is a burden on Medicare, the American people, and It could bankrupt the entire health care system.”
Sanders complained that Ozempic is available in Canada for $155 a month, but only $59 in Germany, and called on the company to match the Canadian price in the United States.
“While the pharmaceutical industry reaps huge profits, Americans are tired of paying by far the highest prices for prescription drugs,” he said in a statement, adding that last year Novo Nordisk’s He noted that he made a profit of nearly $15 billion. . “Prescription drugs are neither safe nor effective for patients who cannot afford them.”
Novo Nordisk said it is doing everything it can to make the drug more affordable and available.
In a statement from director Jamie Bennett, Novo Nordisk said: “While we are not aware of the analysis used in the (new) research, we are continuing to innovate to support greater access to our products. “We have always recognized the need to continually evaluate affordable options.” Media relations and issue management. “We will continue to help improve health equity for people in need of diabetes treatment and care.”
Research has shown that Ozempic and Wegovy cost between 95 cents and $5.50 per unit, or less than $22 per month. Melissa Barber, who led the study, said the maximum dose of Wegoby was higher than the full dose of Ozempic, but the “key factor” was the cost of the delivery device (the needle embedded in the pen).
Barber calculated that if Medicare and Medicaid covered the full cost of drugs like Ozempic and Wigovy for everyone they covered, more than $100 billion would be paid in taxes each year. This is about six times the amount the government currently spends on Eliquis, which is used to treat and prevent blood clots and prevent strokes.
Eliquis is one of 10 drugs the Biden administration is negotiating on price to make important, lifesaving treatments more affordable.
Barber, who has been researching actual manufacturing costs since 2016, said he was simply trying to bring transparency to an unbalanced system.
“The system we have is that businesses can literally charge whatever they want,” she said. “How much should she pay Nordisk? There’s a big difference between a multiplier of 10 and a multiplier of 10 million.”
He said Novo Nordisk, Europe’s most valuable company, has a charity as its controlling shareholder, which is now the world’s largest and richer than the Catholic Church thanks to these medicines. It pointed out. The company was reportedly founded to sell insulin and was primarily owned by a nonprofit organization to funnel its profits into research.
Frederick Banting, a Canadian known as the co-discoverer of insulin, sold the patent for $1, thinking that this discovery belonged to the world, not just one person.
A new study has found that synthetic insulin can be produced for about $11 for a box of five pens, including the cost of the needle and a 10% profit. But the current selling price is more than five times that amount, Barber found.
A year ago, Eli Lilly, which makes several types of insulin, capped out-of-pocket costs for the drug at participating retail pharmacies to $35 a month for people with commercial insurance who use Lilly insulin. Sanofi said most people who use its insulin products pay about $15 a month, or about $180 a year, out of pocket through a copay assistance program. Novo announced it would cut the price of a popular insulin called Levemir and then stop selling the product in the United States.
The real cost of insulin is often higher than it appears, with approximately 1 in 4 to 1 in 7 insulin-dependent Americans rationing their insulin because of price, Barber said. Ta.
Ozempic sells for more than $900 per month in the US. Wegovy, which was also recently approved to reduce the risk of serious heart disease in people who are obese or overweight, retails for about $1,350, but most people pay far less than the list price .
Eli Lilly manufactures two drugs in the same GLP-1 class as Novo Nordisk’s drugs, which also contain a second active ingredient. Mounjaro, a diabetes drug, and Zepbound, a weight-loss drug, both retail for about $1,000.
All four drugs are in such high demand that supplies have been in short supply since they received federal approval. Many private insurance companies and government-funded Medicare and Medicaid typically do not cover these drugs for weight loss purposes, leaving them out of reach for a significant number of people who desire them. Masu.
Novo Nordisk did not disclose detailed cost information, but Bennett said it spent about $5 billion on research and development last year and would spend even more this year. He said in a statement that three-quarters of the gross profits go toward rebates and discounts to “ensure patients have access to products like semaglutide.”
And the company spent $6 billion in capital expenditures and another $11 billion to purchase three fill-finish sites from U.S. contract manufacturer Catalent, primarily to meet demand for GLP-1 products. ing.
In a statement, Lilly cited its commitment to improve access to “quality health care” for 30 million people living with limited resources by 2030.
The company also collaborates with EVA Pharma to provide affordable insulin to 1 million people with type 1 and type 2 diabetes, primarily in low- and middle-income countries in Africa, and last year provided 43 million yen to charities. It provides billions of dollars worth of medicines.
Karen Weintraub can be reached at kweintraub@usatoday.com.
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