Eli Lilly caps the cost of insulin at $35 a month, following California lawsuit
Facing pressure to curb diabetes treatment costs, the price cut puts the drugmaker’s insulin in line with the Inflation Reduction Act, which last month capped the medication’s cost for seniors on Medicare.
Following a 47-page civil complaint filed in California in January, alleging that three pharmaceutical companies (including Eli Lilly and Co.) control the insulin market, Eli Lilly today announced price reductions of 70% for its most commonly prescribed insulins and an expansion of its Insulin Value Program that caps patient out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month.
Lilly is taking these actions to make it easier to access Lilly insulin and help Americans who may have difficulty navigating a complex healthcare system that may keep them from getting affordable insulin, according to a company release.
Related: California lawsuit accuses six companies of driving up insulin costs
Today, Lilly is reducing the list price of insulins by:
- Cutting the list price of its non-branded insulin, Insulin Lispro Injection, to $25 a vial. Effective May 1, 2023, it will be the lowest list-priced mealtime insulin available.
- Cutting the price of its biggest-selling insulin products, Humalog and Humulin, by 70%, effective in Q4 2023.
- Launching Rezvoglar injection, a basal insulin that is similar to Sanofi’s Lantus injection, for $92 per five pack of KwikPens, a 78% discount to Lantus, effective April 1, 2023.
“While the current health care system provides access to insulin for most people with diabetes, it still does not provide affordable insulin for everyone and that needs to change,” said David A. Ricks, Lilly’s Chair and CEO. “The aggressive price cuts we’re announcing today should make a real difference for Americans with diabetes. Because these price cuts will take time for the insurance and pharmacy system to implement, we are taking the additional step to immediately cap out-of-pocket costs for patients who use Lilly insulin and are not covered by the recent Medicare Part D cap.”
In his State of the Union speech in February, Biden called for the $35 monthly insulin cap to be expanded beyond Medicare to include all diabetes patients.
In addition to reducing the list price of its insulins, Lilly will automatically cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 at participating retail pharmacies for people with commercial insurance using Lilly insulin, effective immediately.
“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,” continued Ricks.
Thus far, the other pharmaceutical companies named in the suit – Sanofi and Novo Nordisk – have not made any insulin price changes as a result of the lawsuit, which also targets three pharmacy benefit managers – CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx.
“We’re going to level the playing field and make this lifesaving drug more affordable for all who need it by putting an end to big pharma’s big profit scheme,” Attorney General Rob Bonta said, after filing the lawsuit in January. “These six companies are complicit in aggressively hiking the list price of insulin, at the expense of patients.”
In the lawsuit, Bonta argues that prices have skyrocketed and that some patients have been forced to ration their medicine or forgo buying insulin altogether. A vial of insulin that cost $25 two decades ago now costs about $300.
The California lawsuit follows suits by other states, such as Arkansas and Illinois, that have also filed complaints against pharmaceutical companies.