Government

Sen. Bernie Sanders’ aggressive targeting of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic and Wegovy pricing, and not Eli Lilly’s rival drugs, is not fair.
Despite the settlement, the Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday sued Cassava Sciences in the Western District Court of Texas, claiming that the company misled investors regarding the Phase IIb performance of its Alzheimer’s disease drug candidate.
In a Tuesday Senate hearing on Novo Nordisk’s drug pricing, CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said he would be willing to sit down with the three largest pharmacy benefit managers who committed that they would expand coverage of Ozempic and Wegovy if Novo lowers its list prices for the blockbuster drugs.
Novo Nordisk’s blockbuster type 2 diabetes medication is a sure bet for the list of the next 15 drugs whose Medicare prices will be negotiated in 2025 and go into effect in 2027, according to analysts and academics.
A senior senator has asked the CEOs of both companies to provide information about the limits they are putting on 340B drug pricing for hospitals.
In a high-profile showdown Tuesday with Sen. Bernie Sanders’ Senate health committee, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen will be asked to defend the drugs’ U.S. monthly list prices of $969 and $1,349, respectively.
IRA
While unlikely to pass this year, given the Democrats’ control over the White House and Senate, the proposed legislation might be a harbinger of the Republicans’ agenda next year for the Inflation Reduction Act should they win the November elections.
The drop in interest rate is slightly bigger than anticipated and good news for the biotech industry, but little will change in the near term.
Ahead of a Senate health committee hearing next week with Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jørgensen, Sen. Bernie Sanders claims he has secured assurances from generics developers that they will charge a significantly lower monthly price than the $969 Americans currently pay for the Danish drugmaker’s diabetes blockbuster.
If Johnson & Johnson refuses to scrap its proposed changes to the 340B drug pricing for hospitals, it risks the termination of participation in the program and monetary fines, the Health Resources and Services Administration warned.
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