PREPARED REMARKS: Sanders Floor Speech on Subpoena Vote for Novo Nordisk to Testify on Ozempic and Wegovy Prices

WASHINGTON, June 11 – Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), Chairman of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP), today spoke on the floor of the Senate about the outrageous costs major pharmaceutical companies charge for prescription drugs in the United States, including Novo Nordisk which charges the American people up to 10 to 15 times more for Ozempic and Wegovy compared to people in other countries.

Earlier today, Chairman Sanders announced the HELP Committee will, on Tuesday, June 18, vote to subpoena the President of Novo Nordisk Inc. to explain why the company’s prices are so high in the U.S. 

Sanders remarks, as prepared for delivery, are below and can be watched here:

M. President: Let me be as clear as I can be: The American people – Democrats, Republicans and Independents – are sick and tired of paying, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs. 

The American people are sick and tired of being ripped off by giant pharmaceutical companies who make huge profits every year while charging us outrageous prices. 

A few months ago, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee (HELP Committee) held a hearing on the outrageous price of prescription drugs in the United States and this is what we learned.

We found out that Merck, a pharmaceutical company that made $14.5 billion in profits last year, charges Americans struggling with diabetes $6,900 for (Jan-ooo-vee-ah) Januvia when that same exact product can be purchased in Canada for $900 and just $200 in France.

We found out that this same company (which could afford to spend $7 billion last year on dividends and a $52 million compensation package for its CEO) charges Americans struggling with cancer $191,000 for (Cay-True-Da) Keytruda while this exact same drug can be purchased in Canada for $112,000, $91,000 in France and just $89,000 in Germany.

And it’s not just Merck.

Our committee also discovered that Bristol Myers Squibb, a company that made over $6 billion in profits last year, charges patients in America $7,100 for (El-i-kwis) Eliquis, the popular blood thinner, when that same exact product can be purchased for just $900 in Canada and just $650 in France.

That same company (which, by the way, could afford to spend some $14 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and hand out a $41 million compensation package to its CEO last year) charges Americans with cancer $192,000 for (Op-Dee-Vough) Opdivo while that same exact drug can be purchased for just $89,000 in Canada and $68,000 in France.

What else did we learn?

Well, we found out that Johnson & Johnson (which made over $18 billion in profits last year) charges cancer patients $204,000 for Imbruvica which can be purchased for just $46,000 in the U.K. and $43,000 in France.

And that same company which recently spent over $17 billion on stock buybacks and dividends and gave its CEO a $27 million compensation package last year, charges Americans with arthritis $79,000 for Stelara when it can be purchased for just $30,000 in Germany and $16,000 in the United Kingdom.

And M. President, let’s be clear.

It’s not just Bristol Myers Squibb.  It’s not just Merck.  It’s not just Johnson & Johnson.

Incredibly, while one out of four Americans cannot afford the medicine their doctors prescribe, ten top pharmaceutical companies in America made over $110 billion in profits last year and spent tens of billions of dollars on stock buybacks and dividends.

As the Chairman of the Senate HELP Committee one of my top priorities is to try to substantially reduce the price of prescription drugs in America.

And one of the ways to do that is to hold the executives of some of the largest pharmaceutical companies in our country accountable for their actions.

Which brings us to another major pharmaceutical company, Novo Nordisk, the manufacturer of the blockbuster drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.

M. President: on April 24th, the HELP Committee launched an investigation into the outrageously high prices Novo Nordisk charges for Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States that millions of Americans struggling with diabetes and obesity desperately need.

To date, this investigation has found that:

Novo Nordisk charges Americans with type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic, while this same exact drug can be purchased for just $59 in Germany, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada.

Novo Nordisk charges Americans with obesity $1,349 a month for Wegovy, while this same exact product can be purchased for just $92 in the United Kingdom, $186 in Denmark and $265 in Canada.

Further, if half of the adults in our country with obesity took Wegovy and the other new weight loss drugs, it could cost, and this is really quite incredible, $411 billion per year—$5 billion more than what Americans spent on all prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter in 2022.  Let me repeat: If we do not change this scenario Americans could be spending more, at these outrageous prices, on weight loss drugs than on all prescription drugs at the pharmacy counter.  Clearly, this is unsustainable.  

The HELP Committee also found that if half of all Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries who are obese took Wegovy and other weight loss drugs, Medicare and Medicaid could spend $166 billion per year—roughly what these two major health programs spent on all retail prescription drugs in 2022.  That would also be unsustainable.

M. President: The scientists at Novo Nordisk and the other drug companies deserve a lot of credit and thanks for developing these important life saving drugs.  But these drugs mean nothing to the millions of people who cannot afford them and if we don’t lower their prices they will have a disastrous impact on the federal deficit and the future of Medicare and Medicaid.

In other words, we have a moral responsibility to make sure that every American with diabetes and obesity who receives a prescription for Ozempic or Wegovy can afford to purchase those drugs.

And we have a fiscal responsibility to make sure that Ozempic and Wegovy do not bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid and our entire health care system.

And M. President, that is why the HELP Committee has, time and time again, invited Novo Nordisk to voluntarily testify about the unconscionably high prices they are charging for these drugs in the United States.

And the reason why we invited the executives at Novo Nordisk to testify before Congress is not that complicated.

We want them to answer a very simple question:

Why do they think it is acceptable for Novo Nordisk to charge Americans $969 for Ozempic when that same exact drug can be purchased for just $59 in Germany, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada.

We want to ask them why they think it is acceptable to charge Americans $1,349 for Wegovy when that same drug can be purchased for just $92 in the United Kingdom, $186 in Denmark and $265 in Canada.

So, M. President, what are we trying to accomplish?

It’s obvious.  It’s simple.  We want Novo Nordisk to stop ripping-off the American people and charging us prices that are far higher than they charge in other countries.  That’s what I want to see.  That’s what the American people want to see.

Unfortunately, despite all of the discussions that I and my staff have had with Novo Nordisk over the past several months, I must confess that we have made virtually no progress.

We have asked the leadership of the company to come before the Committee to explain why their prices are so high in the United States.  They have not agreed to that.

Therefore, the HELP Committee has no choice but to subpoena the leadership of Novo Nordisk to testify and explain their actions.

I look forward to their presence at a HELP Committee hearing on this issue on July 10th.

M. President, let me be very clear: The HELP Committee that I chair will continue to ask the tough questions that the pharmaceutical industry would like us to ignore.

Why is it that the median price of new prescription drugs in America is now over $300,000 – including many new cancer drugs?

Why has the pharmaceutical industry spent, over the past 25 years, some $8.5 billion on lobbying and over $700 million on campaign contributions?

Why is the pharmaceutical industry spending tens of millions of dollars today on some 1,800 well-paid lobbyists in Washington, DC – including former leaders of the Republican and Democratic parties?

How does it happen that while millions of Americans cannot afford the prescription drugs they need, major drug companies in America spend more on stock buybacks and dividends than they do on research and development?

These are very simple and straightforward questions that are on the minds of millions of Americans, and these are questions that the executives of major pharmaceutical companies have a responsibility to answer.

Now, here is the good news.

As a result of the actions of the HELP Committee, the President and the Democratic Caucus we are beginning to make some progress.

As a result of the Inflation Reduction Act that passed Congress without a single Republican vote, seniors with diabetes are paying no more than $35 a month for insulin. 

Starting in January, no senior in America will pay over $2,000 a year for prescription drugs. 

And, for the first time in history, Medicare is now doing what every other major country does: Negotiate with the pharmaceutical companies to lower the price of some of the most expensive drugs in America.

Further, working with some of the largest drug companies in the world, the HELP Committee that I chair has managed this month to lower the cost of inhalers that millions of Americans with asthma and COPD need to breathe from as much as $645 down to just $35.

As important as these achievements are much more needs to be done to take on the greed of the pharmaceutical industry.

What does that mean?

It means that, at a time when many Americans are dealing with a myriad of chronic illnesses, President Biden was right when he called on Congress in his State of the Union Address to pass legislation to make sure that no American pays over $2,000 a year for the prescription drugs they need, not just seniors. 

He was also right to call on Congress to expand the number of prescription drugs up for price negotiation to at least 50 a year. 

But, M. President, let’s be clear.  It’s not just Congress that needs to act. 

Prescription drug companies must also step up to the plate and stop ripping-off the American people.  

And, in my view, there is no better place to begin that process than with Novo Nordisk.

This is a company that made over $12 billion in profits last year.

This is a company that charges Americans over $1,000 a month for a prescription drug that can be profitably manufactured for less than $5 and can be purchased for as little as $92 in Europe.

M. President: That is not making a reasonable return on investment.  That is price gouging.  That is corporate greed.

It is time for Novo Nordisk to substantially reduce the price of Ozempic and Wegovy.

It is time for Novo Nordisk to end their greed.

And if Novo Nordisk does not end its greed, we have a responsibility to end it for them.

I thank the president and I yield the floor.