August 10, 2018 Source: Reuters 667
Declining sales of chief drugs of Novo Nordisk in the second quarter saw its shares falling on Wednesday, causing it to lower its prices in the key U.S. market next year.
The world’s leading diabetes drug maker is enduring a period of slow growth partially on account of pricing pressure on the U.S. market, which is responsible for about half of the company’s total sales.
U.S. President Donald Trump has made reducing the price of prescription drugs an issue for his administration and on Tuesday he said that he would make an announcement next week on the matter.
Various pharma companies like Pfizer Inc and Switzerland’s Novartis have commented that they would not bend on planned increases in drug prices.
Novo Nordisk does not intend to follow suit and overturn list price increases announced in July, chief executive Lars Fruergaard Jorgensen told reporters, adding: “Neither do we have plans to raise the prices for the rest of the year”.
The company said that “average prices after rebates are expected to be lower compared with the levels in 2018”.
Drug makers also see new U.S. legislation coming year focused on reining in high drug prices. Novo Nordisk comments that the new rules would lower its 2019 sales by 1-2 percent.
Jorgensen annulled media reports that Novo is thinking to lay off as much as 3,000 in reaction to the new legislation.
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