Sanders drops subpoena effort after Novo Nordisk CEO agrees to testify

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) on Friday abandoned his pursuit of a subpoena for a top pharmaceutical executive after the company’s CEO agreed to testify before the Senate later this year.

Sanders announced earlier this week that he would hold a vote to subpoena Doug Langa. executive vice president of North American operations at Novo Nordisk, because the company “repeatedly denied” requests to appear.

The vote that was scheduled for next week was brought forward with the announcement that Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen has agreed to testify before the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, chaired by Sanders.

The hearing will be held in early September.

“I took advantage of the opportunity to speak with Mr. Jørgensen this afternoon and thank him for agreeing to voluntarily testify on a one-on-one panel before the HELP Committee regarding the high cost of Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States,” Sanders said in a statement. “The scheduled subpoena vote is no longer necessary and will be cancelled.”

This hearing is part of Sanders’ investigation into why Novo Nordisk’s semaglutide products – Ozempic and Wegovy – are significantly more expensive in the US than abroad.

Documents obtained by The Hill indicate that Jørgensen expressed his willingness to voluntarily testify before the planned vote on the subpoena. Letters dated June 5 and 7 state Jørgensen’s willingness to attend.

The main disagreement seemed to be that Jørgensen did not wish to be an individual witness.

“We ask that, in line with its public statements to the New York Times and its statement directly to Mr. Jørgensen, the Committee hold a fair hearing that includes a range of stakeholders who impact what patients pay for GLP-1 medicines in the complex US healthcare ecosystem – rather than focusing on just one participant,” the June 7 letter stated.

“Unfortunately, your team has so far refused to reach an agreement on this issue and has instead communicated that, despite our repeated offers to appear voluntarily, you intend to compel Mr. Jørgensen to appear alone to account for discrepancies in prices that result from the US healthcare system.”

The threat of a subpoena against Langa appeared to be enough to persuade Jørgensen to appear alone before the Senate committee.

“As part of Novo Nordisk’s ongoing efforts to cooperate with the President, our CEO reaffirmed our position. He and President Sanders had a productive call and agreed to find a mutually acceptable date for a hearing. We look forward to discussing solutions that ensure access and accessibility for all patients within the complex U.S. healthcare system,” Novo Nordisk said in a statement.

According to health policy experts, the recent political pressure on Novo Nordisk over its pricing could very well be a tactic to keep high drug costs at the top this year.

“Novo Nordisk’s GLP-1 drugs are receiving enormous public attention, both for their potential weight loss benefits and their sky-high list prices in the U.S. Novo Nordisk has become a very attractive political target for politicians who seek to keep the spotlight on high drug costs in this country, especially in an election year,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at research group KFF, in a statement to The Hill.

“There will be increasing public pressure on employers, insurers, and Medicare and Medicaid to cover drugs that are effective in treating obesity, but high prices are a major barrier,” Levitt added.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story