Just how much Medicare price negotiations will negatively impact Novo Nordisk, though, depends on what the final negotiated prices for Ozempic, Wegovy, and Rybelsus will be. In Medicare's negotiations for 2026, the new prices achieved an average of 22% savings.
Meena Seshamani’s Medicare swan song ended on a note of bravura: the announcement that 15 costly drugs, including Novo Nordisk blockbusters Wegovy and Ozempic, are slated for price talks.
Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Wegovy are among the 15 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations for 2027, the U.S. government said on Friday, part of a law pharmaceutical companies have pledged to revisit with the Trump administration.
The hugely popular medications Ozempic and Wegovy​, used for diabetes and weight loss, will be included in the next round of talks to negotiate lower Medicare drug prices.
Novo Nordisk's blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic and weight-loss treatment Wegovy are among the 15 drugs targeted for Medicare price negotiations for 2027, the U.S. government said on Friday. Other drugs on the list include Pfizer's cancer drugs Ibrance and Xtandi,
Novo sells semaglutide as Ozempic and Rybelsus for diabetes and as Wegovy for obesity. In price talks, CMS will treat the different forms as a single product.
From Alzheimer's prevention to weight-loss dominance, Novo bets on innovation and share repurchases amid Medicare pressure.
Federal officials are targeting the blockbuster drugs as part of their ongoing initiative to lower drug costs.
The Biden administration announced Friday that Ozempic, Wegovy and 13 additional drugs will now be covered under Medicare Part-D for price negotiations, the next round of negotiations under the Inflation Reduction Act passed by President Joe Biden in 2022.
Medicare announced plans to negotiate lower prices for 15 costly drugs, including Ozempic, Wegovy, and Trelegy Ellipta, starting in 2027. These medications, used for conditions like diabetes, weight loss, and asthma, accounted for $41 billion in Medicare spending last year. Novo Nordisk’s drugs alone cost $14.4 billion.
Stock prices for Novo Nordisk dropped precipitously Friday after a last-minute announcement from the Biden administration that the premier drugs from the Danish pharmaceutical juggernaut have been selected for forced price negotiations for Medicare.
In other news, Novo Nordisk announced the results from its phase 3b STEP UP semaglutide trial today. Specifically, the company said semaglutide 7.2 milligram (mg) injections over a 72-week period resulted in an average weight loss of 20.7%, better than the 17.5% weight loss achieved in a prior trial of semaglutide 2.4 mg injections.