CSRxP: Weight Loss Drugs the Latest Target for Big Pharma’s Price-Gouging of American Patients

Analysis Finds Brand Name Drug Makers Setting U.S. Prices for Obesity Medications More Than Five Times Higher Than Prices for Other Countries

Washington, D.C. –  The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) issued a statement Friday reacting to a new analysis from the Peterson-KFF Health System Tracker analyzing the price of several new weight loss drugs in the U.S. compared to other wealthy countries. The analysis finds that list prices for these drugs, including Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic, Wegovy and Rybelsus products, as well as Eli Lilly’s Mounjaro, are significantly higher in the U.S. For example, Ozempic has a list price of $936 for a one-month supply in the U.S. In Japan, where Ozempic has the next highest list price, the price for a one-month supply is $169. This means U.S. patients are being charged more than 5.5. times for the same drug.

“Brand name weight loss drugs appear to be the latest target for Big Pharma’s egregious price-gouging of American patients,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “In the nation with the highest rates of obesity in the world, Big Pharma is plotting to charge American patients and the U.S. health care system four or five times what other comparable countries will pay for the exact same drugs.”

“Big Pharma’s egregious pricing of weight loss drugs in the U.S. market is just the latest reminder that the industry consistently puts profits over patients,” Aronson added. “Policymakers must hold Big Pharma accountable in order to lower prescription drug prices.”

According to the Peterson-KFF Health System analysis, across all four drugs analyzed, U.S. patients are charged significantly more than other, comparable countries that are part of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). The list price for Rybelsus in the U.S. is $936 for a one-month supply. The next highest price compared to other countries is $203, in the Netherlands, meaning U.S. patients pay more than four times more for this product. For Wegovy, the U.S. list price is $1,349, while the next highest price in a comparable country is $328 in Germany, again meaning U.S. patients pay more than four times more than the next comparable country for the same prescription drug.

Read the full Peterson-KFF Health System analysis HERE.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.