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Senator Bernie Sanders wants to meet next week with Novo Nordisk<\/a> A\/S\u2019s top executive about lowering the price of its blockbuster drug Ozempic, fueling controversy over the costs of GLP-1 drugs for diabetes and obesity.<\/p>\n The Vermont independent said he\u2019s considering hearings on the cost of GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, but first wants to personally discuss their prices with Novo Chief Executive Officer Lars Fruergaard J\u00f8rgensen.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe are going to try to make it happen next week,\u201d said Sanders, chair of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions committee. Ozempic lists in the US for $968.52 for a month\u2019s supply of weekly injections.<\/p>\n A Novo spokesperson couldn\u2019t say whether its CEO would meet with Sanders. In a statement, the company said that \u201caffordability challenges are real\u201d for drugs and that it offers options to help US patients pay for medications. The company has said it\u2019s spending many billions of dollars to increase the supply of drugs like Ozempic.<\/p>\n Sanders was responding to a\u00a0study<\/a>\u00a0published Wednesday in JAMA Network Open that found a month\u2019s supply of Ozempic could be profitably made for less than $5. Sanders called the price of Ozempic \u201ctotally absurd\u201d and \u201coutrageous\u201d and said it should be sharply lowered to what Novo sells the drug for in Canada or Europe. \u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cMillions of Americans are going to need this product\u201d but won\u2019t be able to afford it, he said in the interview. Ozempic \u201cis also going to have a very, very deleterious impact on the budgets of Medicare and Medicaid and private insurance.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders also said he currently does not support legislation that would broadly require Medicare, the US health program for seniors and disabled people, to cover related obesity drugs such as Novo\u2019s Wegovy, which costs even more than Ozempic.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cNot at this price,\u201d he said. Covering obesity drugs \u201cwould raise Medicare premiums very, very substantially.\u201d<\/p>\n Sanders said he also hoped to reach an agreement to lower out-of-pocket costs for drugs like Ozempic. Earlier this month, several drug companies agreed to cap patients\u2019 costs for asthma inhalers after a Senate HELP committee probe.<\/p>\n State health plans and Medicaid offices are seeing growing costs for Ozempic and its sister drug Wegovy for obesity, raising questions about whether the increases are sustainable. In January,\u00a0North Carolina<\/a>\u00a0said it would cut off coverage of anti-obesity medicines for state employees, citing soaring costs and lack of agreement on pricing from drugmakers.\u00a0<\/p>\n Wegovy sells for about $1,349 a month. Medicare doesn\u2019t currently cover drugs for weight loss, but some lawmakers are pushing for legislation that would require the program to pay for them.<\/p>\n In addition to treating obesity, Wegovy was recently approved for reducing cardiovascular risk in heart disease patients who also have obesity. Several Medicare managed plans said Thursday that they will cover it for this use.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n\n\u2018Totally Absurd\u2019<\/h3>\n