Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly Slide as Biden Blasts Weight-Loss Drug Prices

Novo Nordisk (NVO) American depositary receipts (ADRs) and Eli Lilly (LLY) shares lost ground Tuesday after U.S. President Joe Biden and Senator Bernie Sanders called out the companies in an op-ed for the cost of their medicines.

Sanders and Biden wrote that the pharmaceutical industry charges “outrageous prices” for prescription drugs, and cited popular weight-loss treatments including Novo Nordisk's Wegovy, and Mounjaro from Eli Lilly, calling their costs “unconscionably high.”

Biden, Sanders Call on Novo Nordisk and Others To Lower Prices

Biden and Sanders warned that if Novo Nordisk and other pharmaceutical companies don’t “substantially lower prescription drug prices in our country and end their greed, we will do everything within our power to end it for them.”

They said “Novo Nordisk must substantially reduce the price of Ozempic and Wegovy," and that Novo Nordisk charges more than $1,000 a month for those drugs, while they can be manufactured for less than $5.

Novo Nordisk said that it was “disappointed that a very difficult and complex problem is being oversimplified and mischaracterized for political purposes," adding that over 80% of Americans with insurance pay $25 or less per month for Ozempic and Wegovy.

Eli Lilly did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Novo Nordisk ADRs fell 1.7% to close at $142.98 Tuesday, while Eli Lilly shares finished 0.8% lower at $906.71. Even with Tuesday’s losses, Novo Nordisk ADRs have gained over 38% since the start of the year, while Eli Lilly shares have surged more than 55% over the same period.