Senate launches investigation into high prices of Ozempic and Wegovy in the U.S.

• The U.S. Senate will investigate the price of Novo Nordisk's popular weight loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy.
• Sen. Bernie Sanders asked Novo Nordisk's CEO in a letter how the price of the drugs is determined and the amount the pharmaceutical company spends on research and development.
• Before insurance, Novo Nordisk charges about $1,000 per month for Ozempic and roughly $1,350 for Wegovy. A study last month said that Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month.

The U.S. Senate has launched an investigation into the high price of Novo Nordisk's popular weight loss and diabetes drugs Ozempic and Wegovy in the United States, versus other countries where the drugs are sold.

The investigation into the Danish drugmaker was announced by Sen. Bernie Sanders, the Vermont Independent who chairs the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee.

"The scientists at Novo Nordisk deserve great credit for developing these drugs that have the potential to be a game changer for millions of Americans struggling with type 2 diabetes and obesity," Sanders said in a Wednesday letter to CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.

"As important as these drugs are, they will not do any good for the millions of patients who cannot afford them," wrote Sanders.

Sanders also laid out in stark terms the dilemma facing American insurers, including the government, given how high the costs are for the potentially life changing drugs. "If the prices for these products are not substantially reduced they also have the potential to bankrupt Medicare, Medicaid, and our entire health care system," he wrote.

Sanders noted that Novo Nordisk charges far less for the same drugs in other countries. The company, "charges $969 in the United States