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by Judgmentality 479 days ago
[flagged]
2 comments

You can get wegovy generic for $299/mo and Zepbound generic for $399/mo currently through telemedicine via compounding pharmacies, without insurance.
FDA has determined the shortages of the non-compounded versions has been resolved (of zepbound/tizepatide in October 2024, and wegovy/semaglutide last week): https://www.fda.gov/drugs/drug-safety-and-availability/fda-c...

So compounders can no longer legally sell tirzepatide and will soon (April-May) be unable to legally sell semaglutide.

Maybe they are in Canada.

Name brand Ozempic is $230 CAD or $160 from Costco up here

[flagged]
"Eschew flamebait. Avoid generic tangents."

https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html

I'm sure Novo Nordisk would survive even with slightly lower margins.

Also what proportion of that $1,000 goes to the manufacturer? From what I understand various middlemen and such get a significant proportion of that without providing any value?

e.g. https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/news/press-releases/2024/09/...

What a take.

I have no idea what Americans overpaying for healthcare has to do with a Danish drug company participating in the Canadian Healthcare market.

I’d rather thank the Canadian government for having a drug pricing review process.

If these companies don’t want to sell their drugs here, no one is making them. They are still here, so I think it’s safe to assume that they are still making money.

I don’t think it should be controversial to say that if the US imposed a Canadian-style price control regime on more than the handful of drugs currently regulated by Medicare, the future number of drugs developed and commercialized would drop significantly.

It’s just basic addressable market vs. development cost math.

The drug companies in Canada are part of the drug pricing process. Their development costs are considered. In exchange, they get additional monopoly priveleges on patented medicine.

Canada doesn’t even have particularly low drug pricing compared to the rest of the world, the opposite in fact. Canada just had low drug prices compared to the most expensive market on the planet.

It’s possible that lower drug prices in one country would disincentivize a global industry that touches almost every human on earth. Or it could not.

Would the number of drugs developed drop, or would a few luxury yacht companies go bankrupt?
It's unambiguously the case that the US subsidizes drug development for the rest of the world, including non-US pharma companies like Novo.
Just because they extract massive profits from the US market does not mean that they would stop operating if they only extracted healthy profits.
If you don't cook, it is very easy to spend $1000+ on food in a month, especially if you live in a high cost of living area.

I'm single, live alone, work a lot, and earn a lot. Food delivery apps are hella expensive... but I still pay it quite frequently. Yes, I am ashamed, thanks for asking.