On Aug. 15, the U.S. government announced negotiated prices for 10 medications under president Biden's Inflation Reduction Act.
Analysts are now predicting that one of the medications that could see negotiations in 2027 is Novo Nordisk's Ozempic for diabetes, according to an Aug. 23 report from Medscape.
Regulators are due to announce the 15 additional negotiated drugs by February 2025, according to the report.
Under the Inflation Reduction Act, prices for 10 highly popular prescription drugs used by Medicare will be cut by 38% to 79% in 2026 following the first round of negotiations.
Researchers predict that the use of Ozempic for weight loss would raise the U.S. deficit over the next 10 years at its current price, with Medicare spending over $4.6 billion on the drug in 2022.
Currently, Novo Nordisk retains around 60% of Ozempic's list price.
Ozempic and other GLP-1 medications are expected to continue to have an impact on the orthopedic market over the next several years, potentially increasing patient volume for orthopedic and spine procedures.
"I am seeing increased usage of GLP drugs," John Prunskis, MD, CEO and medical director of the Illinois Pain & Spine Institute in Elgin, told Becker's in April. "Initially, the effect of these drugs will have little impact on spine and orthopedics; however, in a few years' time, it will have a bearish effect as thinner people will have fewer spine and orthopedic problems. After a few more years, business will pick up again since people will be living longer. I believe usage of this class of drugs will increase."