Ozempic maker Novo Nordisk facing pressure as study finds $1,000 appetite suppressant can be made for just $5

[NickB79]

https://fortune.com/europe/2024/03/28/ozempic-maker-novo-nordisk-facing-pressure-as-study-finds-1000-appetite-suppressant-can-be-made-for-just-5/

Ozempic could be profitably produced for less than $5 a month even as maker Novo Nordisk A/S charges almost $1,000 in the US, according to a study that revives questions about prices for top-selling treatments for diabetes and obesity.

The blockbuster drug could be manufactured for 89 cents to $4.73 for a month’s supply, figures that include a profit margin, researchers at Yale University, King’s College Hospital in London and the nonprofit Doctors Without Borders reported in the journal JAMA Network Open. That compares to the monthly US list price of $968.52 for Ozempic, a weekly injection.

Pharmaceutical companies gouging patients again.

[JI7]

1. Is that what ozempic does ? I thought it caused weight loss even if people ate anything they wanted

so the people on it and losing weight are actually eating less ?

[NickB79]

2. It slows stomach emptying, which reduces appetite

I've read of cases with people in need of surgery that still have stomach contents days after their last meal, so people on Ozempic have to be more careful scheduling surgeries now (you don't want patients under anesthesia to vomit).

[JI7]

4. It seems like it would be really uncomfortable

and unhealthy to still be full of food you ate days ago.

[Elessar Zappa]

9. The consequences of obesity are worse.

This is basically a miracle drug for some people.

[womanofthehills]

23. I don't know - some worrisome side effects

My honey’s son is on it - so I checked side effects. Some are worrisome. He’s not even that overweight- just has a big stomach. Surprised his dr put him on a lifelong drug.

https://www.drugs.com/sfx/ozempic-side-effects.html

Warning that it causes cancer of thyroid in rats!

Another site says lots of lawsuits already.. https://www.msn.com/en-us/health/other/know-potential-side-effects-of-weight-loss-drugs-ozempic-and-mounjaro/ar-BB1kLOug

“he continued, "Those are the ones that you see -- GI, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diahrrea, a lot of abdominal pain."

In addition, there's a risk of intestinal blockage. The FDA placed that warning on the labels of Ozempic, Mounjaro and Wegovy last fall.

And the Ozempic website includes a warning about possible thyroid cancer.”

Mayo Clinic lists all drugs you should NOT take this drug with

https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/semaglutide-subcutaneous-route/side-effects/drg-20406730?p=1

[Blue Idaho]

16. I'm sorry

But I’d have to see some documentation on this claim.

[NickB79]

18. No problem

https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/ozempic-and-similar-weight-loss-drugs-can-increase-risk-of-complications-during-surgery#:~:text=%E2%80%9COne%20of%20the%20effects%20of,week%20prior%20to%20any%20procedure.%E2%80%9D

[Blue Idaho]

22. Thank you!

I appreciate your going to the trouble of providing me the link.

Thanks Again!

[Greybnk48]

7. Yes. People lose their former appetite and cravings.

However, not everyone getting on these drugs is overweight due to genetics. The ones who are, are having the most success, and that's who the drugs are really for. These people will be on the drugs the rest of their lives, instead of something like metformin.
People who are not genetically predisposed to be overweight, who just eat an awful diet of high fat/high carb highly processed food usually don't lose as much or very little.

I've been on chat rooms were people are pissed that they can't just eat garbage and lose weight. But, fortunately, It really, really works for many who could not lose with diet and exercise.

[AwakeAtLast]

13. I am one of those people, and I can't get it.

It runs out at the pharmacy because for profit clinics get it all.

[Greybnk48]

25. Me too. I'm on Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes.

Last month I almost had to go without. I moved my prescription to an area trauma hospital, at their recommendation, and they found some for me. We'll see what happens this month.
I'm completely off other diabetic meds, all blood pressure meds, and my A1c is normal for the first time in 16 years (5.3). I've also lost 51 lbs since the end of August and feel amazing for the first time in almost 20 years.

[uponit7771]

24. People eat anything but can't eat much of it

[edhopper]

3. You are not including

the massive advertising cost for a prescription drug.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

5. I'm sure that Paul McCartney song advertisement doesn't come cheap.

Though not very enlightening. I finally had to look it up to see what they were advertising.

[edhopper]

8. Magic by Pilot

was not written by McCartney.

[Hassin Bin Sober]

17. Oooff

[multigraincracker]

6. Don't forget the cost of lobbyists.

For every $400 million invested,
they get $4 billion back.
Neo-liberal Capitalism , the best system money can buy.

[Dirty Socialist]

10. If the company can't mark up a product by 20,000%

What incentive do they have in inventing anything?
I am asking for my right wing brother.

[PatSeg]

12. Seriously

[moonshinegnomie]

11. one thing they are omitting

(and im not defending the cost of the drug) is how much it cost to research it. Novo spends 5B a year on research. if you assume that the research cost 1B over all thats 1,000,000 months of sales just to cover research costs.

personally i think if a drug costs more than 2x the cost in europe or the rest of teh developed world then teh drug company should be taxxd at an extremely high rate on the overage with the money going straight to medicare/medicaid

[Lancero]

21. 1000000 months of sales to recoup research costs?

How many customers do you think this is going to have, one?

A months supply costs $5 to make, but lets be generous to the pharmaceutical company here. They'll sell it for $100 a month, and assume half that makes up production, shipping, packaging, ect al... So 50 per customer per month in pure profit. $600 a year pure profit per customer, they'd need ~1.6M customers over a year to make up their research investment.

Obesity is very common in the US, ~42% of the population is in some way obese. Which, based on the US's current population, gives them a potential base of ~140 million customers. And that's before considering how well this could sell overseas.

[Warpy]

14. A lot more goes into it besides the cheap reagents

and right now, it's in that patented, stick-em-up period when the company recoups the cost of trials and record keeping and getting FDA approval and other hidden costs. Yes, they're profiteering, there is no way that drug should be quite that expensive. HOwever, during the patent period, it will be expensive, it has to be.

I've been involved with a lot of the process over the years and have seen what goes into bring a new drug onto the market, both the slog of limited human trials followed by large scale trials, the horrendous amount of paperwork, and how adverse effects are sorted out from things that are not related to the drug. I've also seen a streamlined process during the AIDs catastrophe in which the FDA unbent enough to allow compassionate use of investigational drugs, some of which worked, thank goodness and the NIH.

This is why a new drug, especially a breakthrough drug, costs a lot of money at first. Pure reseatch discovering the drug and the manufacturing of it are the cheapest parts of the process.

My problem with Ozempic, specifically, is that the data have shown that once people become svelte and discontinue the drug, they fatten right up again. Clearly more research needs to be done on an optimum maintenance dose, if there is one, to allow formerly obese people from becoming obese again. This is unlikely to be done while the company is still profiteering, which they are..

[Jimbo S]

15. My prescription was just rejected

by my insurance company. Will attempt to appeal.

Unfortunately, had the same experience as noted in the post right above mine.

[Xoan]

19. nearly all companies.

[flvegan]

20. Without a huge markup, how could they afford inundating us with commercials 24/7? Won't somebody

PLEASE think of the poor commercials???!!!

[JT45242]

26. Wife is prediabetic and PCOS it worked wonders, til insurance refused to pay

Wife was on ozempic to treat her prediabetic condition.

She lost a lot of weight and her A1C went from borderline high to the low side of normal.

Was on it a year when the insurance company refused to let her stay on it because her A1C was no longer high.

I would gladly pay a normal $20 copay or even the $75 a month for the non generic ADHD med that the son has to take because the generic gave him side effects.

But the $1000 a month was too much.

Hopefully, if Dems win this year, they will go after pharmaceutical companies for this kind of excessive greed.