Novo Nordisk faces scrutiny on Capitol Hill for pulling Levemir insulin from US market
Adds response from Shaheen's office in paragraph 5
By Maggie Fick and Ahmed Aboulenein
LONDON/WASHINGTON, July 12 (Reuters) -Democratic U.S. Senate aides will meet with Novo Nordisk executives on Tuesday to discuss fallout from its decision to stop selling one of its long-acting insulins in the country, two sources familiar with the meeting told Reuters.
Novo Nordisk NOVOb.CO will meet with the aides for Senators Jeanne Shaheen, Raphael Warnock, and Elizabeth Warren. In April, the lawmakers wrote to the company expressing alarm at its decision, announced in November, that it would permanently discontinue Levemir by the end of 2024.
Novo said it has given patients enough time to switch to other options, according to a May letter seen by Reuters. The company is unaware of plans for drug manufacturers to produce a biosimilar version of the insulin, the letter said, adding Novo would not assert any patent against such a version.
The sources declined to be named citing the sensitivity of the matter.
It was not clear who from Novo would attend the meeting. A company spokesperson denied there was a meeting scheduled. Shaheen's office confirmed a meeting with Novo was scheduled but declined to provide details.Warnock's and Warren's offices did not respond to a request for comment. Meetings between Congressional aides and company representatives are routine.
The Novo spokesperson said in a statement to Reuters on Friday that Levemir was not discontinued due to "success" of the company's newer medicines Wegovy and Ozempic, widely prescribed for weight loss and part of a new class of drugs called GLP-1 agonists.
When announcing in November the discontinuation of Levemir in the U.S., Novo Nordisk cited manufacturing constraints, reduced patient access and available alternatives -- including its other long-acting insulin Tresiba.
The company said a number of long-acting insulins remained on the market, but experts say it can be inconvenient and stressful for people with diabetes to change insulin regimens
Novo has acknowledged during investor calls at quarterly earnings in the past year that it faces manufacturing capacity limitations for some products as it races to increase production of Wegovy and Ozempic.
The company along with rivals Eli Lilly LLY.N and Sanofi SASY.PA make 100% of all insulin sold in the U.S.
Last year all three companies agreed to cut U.S. list prices for insulin products by up to 75% in 2024, responding to political pressure to make the life-sustaining diabetes treatments more affordable.
Scrutiny of Novo has increased at a time of record profits thanks to commercial success of Wegovy, launched in the U.S. in 2021. Sales of that weight-loss injection propelled the company to the position of Europe's most valuable company worth 587 billion euros ($640 billion).
CEO Lars Jorgensen will testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) in September on the high U.S. costs of Wegovy and Novo's diabetes drug Ozempic.
On Wednesday, Senator Bernie Sanders told Reuters he was confident that Novo can be convinced to cut prices after he publicly shamed the company over how its U.S. prices far surpass those charged in other countries.
Levemir's U.S. sales were 1.27 billion Danish crowns ($185.6 million) in 2023. Sales of Novo's other long-acting insulin Tresiba were 1.33 billion crowns last year.
($1 = 0.9172 euros)
($1 = 6.8419 Danish crowns)
Reporting by Maggie Fick in London and Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington; Editing by David Gregorio
Asset collegati
Ultime news
Disclaimer: le entità di XM Group forniscono servizi di sola esecuzione e accesso al nostro servizio di trading online, che permette all'individuo di visualizzare e/o utilizzare i contenuti disponibili sul sito o attraverso di esso; non ha il proposito di modificare o espandere le proprie funzioni, né le modifica o espande. L'accesso e l'utilizzo sono sempre soggetti a: (i) Termini e condizioni; (ii) Avvertenza sui rischi e (iii) Disclaimer completo. Tali contenuti sono perciò forniti a scopo puramente informativo. Nello specifico, ti preghiamo di considerare che i contenuti del nostro servizio di trading online non rappresentano un sollecito né un'offerta ad operare sui mercati finanziari. Il trading su qualsiasi mercato finanziario comporta un notevole livello di rischio per il tuo capitale.
Tutto il materiale pubblicato sul nostro servizio di trading online è unicamente a scopo educativo e informativo, e non contiene (e non dovrebbe essere considerato come contenente) consigli e raccomandazioni di carattere finanziario, di trading o fiscale, né informazioni riguardanti i nostri prezzi di trading, offerte o solleciti riguardanti transazioni che possano coinvolgere strumenti finanziari, oppure promozioni finanziarie da te non richieste.
Tutti i contenuti di terze parti, oltre ai contenuti offerti da XM, siano essi opinioni, news, ricerca, analisi, prezzi, altre informazioni o link a siti di terzi presenti su questo sito, sono forniti "così com'è", e vanno considerati come commenti generali sui mercati; per questo motivo, non possono essere visti come consigli di investimento. Dato che tutti i contenuti sono intesi come ricerche di investimento, devi considerare e accettare che non sono stati preparati né creati seguendo i requisiti normativi pensati per promuovere l'indipendenza delle ricerche di investimento; per questo motivo, questi contenuti devono essere considerati come comunicazioni di marketing in base alle leggi e normative vigenti. Assicurati di avere letto e compreso pienamente la nostra Notifica sulla ricerca di investimento non indipendente e la nostra Informativa sul rischio riguardante le informazioni sopra citate; tali documenti sono consultabili qui.
