00:00As we continue to digest that pharma news with Pfizer and the Trump administration earlier in the week.
00:06And with that in mind, it's been a big week for health care, mostly thanks to those big pharma names.
00:11That news that Pfizer has made a drug price deal with the Trump administration sent shares in the space soaring,
00:17with competitor Novo Nordis also seeing big gains this week.
00:21Earlier today, Romaine and I sat down with No Vote Nordis President Dave Moore to discuss the sector as a whole,
00:27the GOP one outlook, and if he thinks Novo could make a deal with the Trump administration to take a listen.
00:35We are in conversations with the administration, and I would say that there's some like mindedness there with our organization as well,
00:43which is we think increasing the affordability and the access to medicines is a really positive thing.
00:50And we want to engage in any conversations that can lead to more medicines having access to our products like Wagovi and Ozempic.
00:59I would love if you could bring us into those conversations a little bit.
01:02You know, what the mood music is about, you know, when it comes to manufacturing, you have a big U.S. presence.
01:08But when it comes to pricing as well, what those discussions have started to sound like?
01:15Well, the discussions are centered around affordability and access and the different channels that exist in the U.S. market,
01:22like Medicaid and Medicare and the commercial channels, and trying to find a way where we can meet patients where they are
01:28so that they can afford medicines and have readily access in a more seamless way as well.
01:33So it's easier to get their medicines.
01:36How do you do that, though?
01:37I mean, we've seen attempts by Novo, as well as some of your peers, to, I guess, partner with some of the compounding pharmacies
01:45to find a way around the PBM structure here in the United States.
01:49What do you need to make that process a little bit more seamless as to a patient being able to get a drug either directly from you
01:56or at least in a more cost effective manner?
01:58Yeah, I think it's important that we look at all of the opportunities that exist.
02:02And you mentioned some of them.
02:04The first is to ensure that patients have access through their insurance.
02:08If they have insurance, that the medicine is covered.
02:11And we want to expand that.
02:13Today, there's about 55 million Americans that have access to Agobi through their employer-sponsored insurance programs.
02:20So it's important that we increase that because there's about 110 million people in the U.S. living with obesity.
02:27Earlier today, we announced a new partnership with Costco.
02:30We're teaming up with Costco to make our medicines available at their pharmacies across the country
02:36so patients with a prescription can just walk in and get it with a self-pay option as well.
02:42Are you offering additional discounts or any other incentives, particularly for those folks that are paying cash and not going through their insurer?
02:49Yeah. The discount is down to $4.99 for both Wegovy and Ozempic.
02:55And that is a discount off of the list price, less than half the price of the list.
03:01And also for people that have insurance, we obviously have a path that they have a low out-of-pocket.
03:09Most people with insurance that have coverage pay $25 or less per month for their Wegovy.
03:14Let's talk a little bit about the form of Wegovy.
03:18We're mostly talking about injectables, but I know that you've submitted your pill to the U.S. FDA for approval for chronic weight management.
03:26What's interesting, my understanding, is that you've already started production of those pills.
03:31So reading the tea leaves, it seems like you have a high degree of confidence that this will get approval.
03:36Thanks. We're really excited, Katie.
03:38This is a transformation of obesity care and that we can have Wegovy available in a pill.
03:45We have filed.
03:47We are expecting, anticipating approval by the end of the year and a launch in early 2026.
03:53We've been building supply in anticipation of that launch, which we think will expand the obesity market and interest for people that are not seeking care today.
04:03And Wegovy in a pill will be made end-to-end in our North Carolina plant, made for Americans by American workers in our manufacturing.
04:13Do you think that that's the next big thing when it comes to the U.S. obesity market, the fact that you will have these medications available in a pill versus goals such as more quality weight loss when it comes to less muscle loss or just greater weight loss overall?
04:28I think innovation continues and it's something that we care deeply about and we will continue all of our efforts in R&D and obesity as part of the purpose and mission of the company.
04:41It will include new formulations.
04:43It will include innovations with respect to magnitude of weight loss or looking at comorbidities that are associated with weight loss.
04:51And also, as you mentioned, quality of the weight loss, too.
04:55Has there been any discussion, particularly given the new CEO, about maybe potentially broadening or diversifying the product lineup over at Novo?
05:03You are pretty much an obesity and diabetes drug company right now.
05:08Any plans to go beyond that?
05:09I think what you'll see is maintaining the focus.
05:13And that's something that has served us well for over 100 years is that we are a focused R&D organization.
05:21We have deep biological expertise in the areas of diabetes and obesity and some of the associated comorbidities of diabetes and obesity, like chronic kidney disease, like cardiovascular disease.
05:34Recently, Wagovi received a new indication to treat MASH, which is a form of liver disease.
05:39So I think you'll see us continue to be focused in those areas.
05:42What's the difference?
05:43And I know you're running the business operations here in the United States, but I'm curious if you can draw any sort of differences between what the market is like here in the United States, in North America, relative to overseas, particularly in Europe.
05:56I think there's a lot of similarities.
05:58And one of those remain is that we're really just getting started if we think about obesity and treating the people that are living with obesity.
06:07In the U.S., there's just a few million people that are being treated.
06:11Roughly 110 million adults are living with obesity.
06:14But then across the globe, there's close to one billion people living with obesity.
06:19And so we have a lot of work to do.
06:21In many ways, you can say we're just in the early stages, and we're committed to getting the medicines to more people around the globe.
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