If these drugs are effective as they seem to be they might still be worth it at this price. Giving most Americans Ozempic would probably improve people's health more per $ than the current medical system is.
PBMs are a separate issue. But the grand bargain in the first and last is the U.S. giving Novo Nordisk a loan in exchange for domestic production and a fixed price for the term of the loan, e.g. $50 per month, $9 cheaper than what they charge in Germany [1].
[1] https://www.help.senate.gov/chair/newsroom/press/prepared-re...
He’s saying he’s had pre talks with PBMs and they are going “we are actually willing to accept lower prices, we promise not to stop buying if you lower prices” Why would you even be in this situation in a normal market? The willingness to accept lower prices on a product should be automatic and the threat of not buying should be driving prices down not up. If the market was sane, the PBMs would be going: “Lower prices or we stop buying”
But the scam is, PBMs are eating up 70%+ of the “list price” Americans aren’t buying drugs from Pharma companies, they are buying them from their Insurance/PBM/Pharmacy collusion, who dictate both which products you are allowed to buy under insurance and what the “pretend” list price is, so they push it up to maximize their own profits and maximize your copay, which is calculated based on a hypothetical list price they have inflated 4x times while in reality only paying 25% of it themselves.
No one seemed interested in the truth.
> In his written testimony, Jørgensen said Novo Nordisk’s insulin product Levemir was previously available to 90% of U.S. patients through formularies. But insurers began to drop coverage of the insulin after Novo Nordisk cut its list price, leading to only 36% of patients having access.
> That eventually drove the company to discontinue the insulin
So insurers are refusing to buy cheaper drugs? What's the story there?