Sen. Sanders calls for Novo Nordisk subpoena over Wegovy and Ozempic pricing

Sen. Bernie Sanders is ramping up his battle over the cost of two popular obesity-fighting drugs in the United States.

Sanders, a Vermont independent, is the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee.

Members of the Senate HELP Committee will vote June 18 on whether to subpoena Doug Langa, the head of Novo Nordisk’s operations in North America, to have him testify at a hearing on July 10 about how the company sets the prices for Ozempic and Wegovy, Sanders announced Tuesday.

Ozempic and Wegovy are GLP-1 agonists. Patients can use the drugs to treat diabetes and to control obesity.

The Senate HELP Committee found when it investigated that Novo Nordisk charges people with Type 2 diabetes $59 per month for Ozempic in Germany, $155 per month in Canada and $969 per month in the United States, according to Sanders.

Wegovy costs $186 per month for the treatment of obesity in Denmark and $1,349 per month for the treatment of obesity in the United States, Sanders reported.

“The HELP Committee has reached out time and time again to Novo Nordisk to request their voluntary attendance at a hearing to discuss why they are charging Americans up to 10 or 15 times more for the exact same product sold in other countries.,” Sanders said in a statement. “Unfortunately, despite all of our efforts, they have repeatedly denied our requests.”

The Senate HELP Committee began an investigation of Ozempic and Wegovy prices April 24 and posted a report on how the drugs costs around the world May 15.

Related: Sen. Sanders launches probe of ‘outrageous’ prices of Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, Ozempic

Novo Nordisk sent Sanders a letter maintaining that distributors were responsible for the high cost of the drugs in the United States.

Novo Nordisk representatives were not immediately available to comment on Sanders’ subpoena announcement.