“Something is rotten in the state of Denmark,” as Hamlet said in Shakespeare’s time. It was true then, and it’s true today.
While Senate Democrats are holding our government hostage to their ridiculous shutdown so they can provide free healthcare to illegal aliens, federal services are going unfulfilled. One foreign company is trying to exploit this to keep its profits as fat as possible.
Novo Nordisk, a biotech company based in Denmark, is attempting to intervene in the American pharmaceutical market to suppress competition, protect its dominant market position, and stop a weight-loss drug competitor from entering the market.
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Novo, the maker of Ozempic and Wegovy, has a significant market share in the GLP1 drug space, which has revolutionized the medical treatment of obesity. Given the devastating problems of obesity-related illnesses, this is a huge industry, with the potential for both billions in revenue and the opportunity to help many Americans. Recently, Novo announced it was making a play to acquire New York City-based Metsera, which has a potentially breakthrough weight-loss drug in its pipeline.
Novo already holds a dominant market share of the medical weight loss market. If the company were to acquire Metsera, its position would become even stronger. This means less competition, significantly higher prices, less access, increased obesity and poorer health.
Moreover, such an acquisition requires federal scrutiny. First, due to antitrust concerns, the Federal Trade Commission must review this deal. President Donald Trump’s all-star FTC Chairman Andrew Ferguson has served as a guardian of healthcare competition across America. Moreover, because Novo is a foreign company, the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) may need to take action.
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Given the current government shutdown, Novo may have planned this to avoid appropriate regulatory scrutiny in an unprecedented and potentially illegal move.
Novo’s shady strategy is to make an early payment for Metsera shares. That would effectively give Novo economic control of Metsera and undue influence on the company before the transaction even undergoes regulatory review. While a Danish company buying an American one doesn’t necessarily represent an obvious threat to national security, permitting Novo to acquire a promising U.S.-based biotech company could lead to American job losses and profits getting sent abroad.
Government entities like the FTC and CFIUS exist to monitor this kind of business activity for very good reasons – which they would be able to do if it weren’t for the Senate Democrats’ month-long government shutdown. Until Senate Democrats end this hostage situation, so the federal government can do its due diligence, such a deal should not go through.
Furthermore,Novo has demonstrated a lack of good faith with President Trump’s voter-mandated shift in the direction of the country. President Trump has made it a priority to increase healthcare competition and lower drug prices for every American, but especially those who can least afford it. Ferguson is leading the charge to ensure our healthcare markets deliver fair prices and better outcomes for patients and other consumers. When President Trump announced his most favored nation (MFN) executive order to bring down drug prices, thankfully, many American pharmaceutical companies answered the call.
This deal exemplifies the importance of President Trump’s America First focus with international business. This is not jingoism or nationalism or any of the other -isms the president’s enemies like to throw at us. America First doesn’t mean America only. It means if a deal is bad for us, we should not do it. This is just basic logic.
Novo is playing games with the wrong administration. President Trump and Chairman Ferguson should not stand by while a foreign company attempts to circumvent our government’s necessary antitrust oversight, certainly not when it involves seizing control of a vital class of new medicines. If Novo moves forward with its bid for Metsera, it should rightly attract a lot of attention from Ferguson, President Trump’s healthcare competition watchdog and champion.
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