Ozempic Costs to Be Capped in Maryland After Drug Board Vote (1)

A Maryland board has voted to set price limits on Novo Nordisk‘s popular Ozempic weight loss drug, marking the second time the state has moved to use a controversial authority to cap pharmaceutical costs.

The Maryland Prescription Drug Affordability Board’s vote in a meeting Monday will cap what state and local government health plans pay for Ozempic at $274 for a month’s supply starting in January 2027. The move comes on the heels of an April decision by the Maryland PDAB to set a upper-payment limit on Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim ‘s blockbuster diabetes drug Jardiance, an outcome that triggered pushback from the pharmaceutical industry.

Prescription drug boards are controversial entities in the pharmaceutical space, broadly recognized as not having yet resulted in widespread savings for consumers.

UPLs have proven particularly touchy for the pharmaceutical industry. Colorado was first out the gate to set a UPL in 2025 over the biologic Enbrel, triggering litigation from drugmaker Amgen.

“Despite spending millions of dollars to establish and operate this price-setting board, there is no measurable evidence that their actions will produce savings for patients at the pharmacy counter,” Will May, spokesperson for the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, said in a statement responding to Monday’s vote.

Advancing UPLs, May said, “fails to address the root causes of patient affordability concerns — middlemen like insurers and pharmacy benefit managers,” entities “that ultimately determine what patients pay for their prescription drugs.”

The Maryland Health Care for All coalition praised the board for Monday’s vote, claiming it’ll save state and local governments around $5.8 million a year in purchases.

“This new action by the Prescription Drug Affordability Board is great news for state and local governments and will free up millions of dollars that can be used to meet other important community needs,” Vincent DeMarco, president of Maryland Health Care for All, said in a statement.