(Reuters) - U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders said on Tuesday he received confirmation from major generic pharmaceutical companies that they could sell copycat versions of Novo Nordisk's diabetes drug Ozempic for less than $100 a month.

WHY IT'S IMPORTANT

Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Jorgensen is set to testify before the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP), which Sanders chairs, in a hearing next week focusing on U.S. prices for its widely popular Ozempic and weight-loss drug Wegovy.

KEY QUOTE

Sanders said he spoke to the chief executives of several major generic drugmakers over the past few months.

"They have studied the matter and they tell me that they can sell a generic version of Ozempic, the exact same drug that Novo Nordisk is manufacturing, to Americans for less than $100 per month," he said.

Sanders did not name the companies to which he spoke. Ozempic's patent is not set to expire in the United States until 2032.

CONTEXT

Ozempic, which has the same active ingredient as Wegovy and is used off-label for weight loss, belongs to the popular GLP-1 class, which has seen overwhelming demand in the United States.

Some analysts have forecast the total market for weight-loss drugs to reach $150 billion by the early 2030s.

However, this comes amid criticism from lawmakers over the high costs associated with these medications.

BY THE NUMBERS

A month's supply of Novo's Ozempic carries a U.S. list price of $935.77 while Wegovy lists for $1,349.02 per month, according to the drugmaker's website, although most consumers pay less.

(Reporting by Mariam Sunny in Bengaluru; Editing by Krishna Chandra Eluri)