In an unconventional alliance, Republican North Carolina State Treasurer Dale Folwell spoke at a discussion forum Tuesday held by progressive U.S. Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont on the high cost in the United States of popular weight-loss drugs such as Wegovy and Saxenda.

The State Health Plan voted in January to no longer cover Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) agonist medications for weight loss starting in April.

This left thousands of state employees without access to these popular and effective medications. The SHP has cited unsustainable costs as the reason for the cut.

Sanders said Novo Nordisk — the Danish manufacturer of GLP-1 drugs Wegovy, Saxenda and Ozempic — charges Americans with Type 2 diabetes $969 a month for Ozempic.

In contrast, the same drug can be purchased for $59 in Germany, $71 in France, $122 in Denmark and $155 in Canada, Sanders said during an expert roundtable event on Capitol Hill, which was live-streamed on his social media.

GLP-1 drugs approved for weight loss by the Food and Drug Administration include Wegovy, Saxenda and Zepbound. Ozempic and Mounjaro are also GLP-1s, but these are prescribed for diabetes and remain covered under North Carolina’s health plan.

As for people who use GLP-1s for weight loss, Novo charges $1,349 a month in the United States for Wegovy, while it charges far less in other countries, Sanders said.

“As important and groundbreaking as these drugs may be, they will not do any good for the millions of people who cannot afford a drug,” Sanders said.

Speaking on the financial implications, Sanders said that if half of the adults with obesity in the U.S. took these weight-loss drugs at the current price point, estimates suggest that it would cost the country $411 billion per year, or $5 billion more than what Americans spent on all retail prescription drugs in 2022.

“In other words, the outrageously high cost of these drugs could bankrupt Medicare, while gradually increasing insurance premiums to absolutely unaffordable rates,” he said.

Generic versions

Sanders, an independent who caucuses with Democrats, also said that he had learned through a series of conversations with the CEOs of major generic pharmaceutical companies that they could sell a generic version of Ozempic for less than $100 a month. Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly (the U.S. manufacturer of Mounjaro and Zepbound) own patents for GLP-1s.

There are off-brand versions of these weight loss drugs made by compounding pharmacies, but these are not FDA-approved.

Folwell said that “this is not a Republican, Democrat, unaffiliated, Libertarian issue” but “a moral issue when people cannot afford the drug they need to take advantage of this.” Folwell is a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for governor. He is capping off his last year as the state’s treasurer.

“We never questioned the efficacy of this drug. We’re simply questioning what we’re having to pay for it,” he said, adding that if the SHP had continued covering these drugs, it would have had to double the individual premiums on state employees.

He also cited the recent coverage by Medicaid of these drugs, saying that he’s asked “them what they’re paying for it, and no one will tell me what they’re paying for it”

NC Medicaid started covering FDA-approved obesity management medications for beneficiaries 12 and older on Aug 1.

For the added Medicaid coverage, a public notice posted July 10 on DHHS’ website says that the change will cost the state more than $21 million in 2025 and over $15 million in 2026.

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen will testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee next week. This committee is chaired by Sanders.

The News & Observer was not immediately able to reach Novo Nordisk or Eli Lilly for this story.

_____

©2024 The Charlotte Observer. Visit charlotteobserver.com. Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.