Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-VT) on Friday dropped his request for subpoenas of drug company executives after the CEOs agreed to testify before the Senate later this year.
Sanders announced earlier this week that he would vote on a subpoena for Novo Nordisk’s executive vice president of North American operations, Doug Langa, after the company “repeatedly refused requests to appear.”
The vote, scheduled for next week, was postponed following the announcement that Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fluagaard Jorgensen had agreed to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), which Sanders chairs.
The hearing is scheduled to take place in early September.
“I enjoyed the opportunity to speak with Ms. Jorgensen this afternoon and thank her for voluntarily agreeing to testify before the HELP Committee’s solo panel about the high costs of Ozempic and Wegovi in the United States,” Sanders said in a statement. “The scheduled subpoena vote is no longer necessary and is therefore canceled.”
The hearing is part of Sanders’ investigation into why Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide products Ozempic and Wegobee are significantly more expensive in the US than overseas.
According to documents obtained by The Hill, Jorgensen expressed his intention to voluntarily testify before the scheduled subpoena vote. Letters dated June 5 and June 7 both confirm Jorgensen’s intention to appear in court.
The main disagreement appeared to be that Jorgensen did not want to be the sole witness.
“We have requested, following your public statements to The New York Times and directly to Mr. Jorgensen, that the Committee hold a fair hearing that does not focus on a single participant but rather includes the various stakeholders who affect what patients pay for GLP-1 medicines in the complex U.S. healthcare ecosystem,” the June 7 letter said.
“Unfortunately, your staff has thus far refused to compromise on this issue and instead has communicated their intention to force Mr. Jorgensen to appear in court alone over the price discrepancy resulting from the U.S. health care system, despite our repeated offers to appear in court voluntarily.”
The threat of a subpoena to Langa appears to have been enough to induce Jorgensen to appear in person before the Senate committee.
“Novo Nordisk continues to work with the Chairman, and as part of this, our CEO reaffirmed our position. The CEO and Chairman Sanders had a productive telephone conversation and agreed to schedule a hearing that is acceptable to both parties. We look forward to discussing solutions that will ensure all patients have access to accessible, affordable care within the complex U.S. healthcare system,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement.
Health policy experts say the recent political pressure on Novo Nordisk over pricing is likely a strategy to make high drug costs a top priority this year.
“Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drugs have attracted significant public attention due to their potential weight-loss benefits and their high legal prices in the U.S., making Novo Nordisk a highly attractive political target for politicians looking to draw attention to high drug costs in this country, especially in an election year,” Larry Levitt, executive vice president of health policy at research group KFF, said in a statement to The Hill.
“Public pressure on employers, insurers, Medicare and Medicaid to cover effective obesity medications will grow, but price remains a major obstacle,” Levitt added.
