Reported 12 months ago
On July 3, 2024, U.S. President Biden urged Danish pharmaceutical company Novo Nordisk to lower prices in an article, criticizing Eli Lilly for unreasonable drug pricing. The call led to a sell-off of pharmaceutical stocks, with Novo Nordisk dropping over 3% and Eli Lilly plummeting by 3.4%. Biden and Senator Sanders jointly published a column in USA Today naming Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly, urging them to stop 'extorting Americans with high-priced drugs' and calling for multiple pharmaceutical companies to lower U.S. prescription drug prices to 'end their greed'. They criticized the prices of diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy under Novo Nordisk, which may be six times higher than in other major countries like Canada, Germany, and Denmark, demanding a significant decrease. Additionally, they pointed out that Eli Lilly's diabetes drug Mounjaro costs approximately $1,100 per month, which they deemed 'unreasonably high'. Novo Nordisk responded, emphasizing they value affordability for people and were disappointed at the oversimplification of a complex issue while Eli Lilly claimed eligible patients only need to pay $25 per month for Mounjaro and obesity drug Zepbound, highlighting discounts and costs totaling billions of dollars. Biden and Sanders also collectively called for expanding Medicare drug price negotiation plans, aiming to increase the number of eligible new drugs negotiated annually from the current 20 to 'at least 50', as part of the 'Lowering Inflation Act'.
Source: YAHOO