Following pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly’s much-lauded move to cut US prices for its insulin products, US President Joe Biden is calling on other drugmakers to make similar reductions for the vital medication.
According to Euronews, Lilly is directly slashing its insulin prices by about 70%, since many patients cannot access discounts, and is capping consumer costs at US$35 (R635) a month.
Biden is driving a push for cheaper insulin, signing a law that capped insulin at US$35 a month for senior citizens on Medicare, and urged companies to lower prices on their own. “For far too long, American families have been crushed by drug costs many times higher than what people in other countries are charged for the same prescriptions,” Biden said.
“Insulin costs less than US$10 to make, but Americans are sometimes forced to pay over US$300 for it. It’s flat wrong”.
Biden has called for a national cap on insulin prices, but his current Act does not extend to that.
A Lilly press release revealed that the price of Humalog® (insulin lispro injection) 100 units/mL (Lilly’s most commonly prescribed insulin) and Humulin® (insulin human) injection 100 units/mL by would be cut by 70%. This price change would take effect around the end 2023. Lilly also said it would cut the price for the generic Lispro to US$25 a vial starting in May. In South Africa, a Humulin® 10mL vial costs R525.28, or US$28.08, according to Health-e’s medicine price registry.
Lilly CEO David Ricks said his company was bringing the changes as not all patients could benefit through discounts through insurers or pharmacy benefit managers.
“We are driving for change in repricing older insulins, but we know that 7 out of 10 Americans don’t use Lilly insulin. We are calling on policymakers, employers and others to join us in making insulin more affordable,” said Ricks. “For the past century, Lilly has focused on inventing new and improved insulins and other medicines that address the impact of diabetes and improve patient outcomes. Our work to discover new and better treatments is far from over. We won’t stop until all people with diabetes are in control of their disease and can get the insulin they need.”
Since insurers and pharmacies will take a while to implement the price cuts, Lilly will immediately cap monthly out-of-pocket costs at $35 for people who are not covered by Medicare’s prescription drug programme.
