Novo Nordisk, the Danish company behind popular weight loss medications Ozempic and Wegovy, is dramatically bulking up its lobbyist team as it works to convince U.S. policymakers to have Medicare cover the drugs.
Since last September, Novo Nordisk has retained at least a dozen new federal lobbyists to work on the issue of anti-obesity medication and Medicare, according to Senate disclosures. Most recently, the company hired two lobbyists with the firm Madison Group who have close ties to the Biden administration. Madison Group senior partner Marcus Mason, a former Obama administration official who says that President Biden had him appointed to the Democratic National Committee, and senior director Chyna Melton, who worked in the congressional office of Biden campaign co-chair Cedric Richmond, were hired by the drug company on July 1 to lobby the federal government on “Medicare coverage of anti-obesity medications.”
