Topline
Pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced Thursday it will cut the price of its most commonly prescribed insulin by 78% and cap the monthly cost at $35, becoming the latest drug maker—behind Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk—to slash insulin costs this month, amid growing calls to lower the cost of the life-saving diabetes medication.
Sanofi announced Thursday it will cut the cost of its most commonly prescribed insulin by 78%.
Key Facts
Sanofi said in a statement it would cut the list price of its diabetes medication Lantus by 78% and slash insulin product Apidra by 70% starting at the beginning of 2024.
The Paris-based pharmaceutical company also announced it will cap the out-of-pocket price of Lantus at $35 for patients with commercial insurance.
The move comes two weeks after Eli Lilly announced a 70% cut in the cost of its most popular insulin product, Humalog, and said it would cap out-of-pocket monthly costs at $35.
In a similar step, Novo Nordisk unveiled plans earlier this week to cut the list price of its insulin products by up to 75% and lower the cost of its Novolin and Levimir brand products by 65%.
Key Background
Sanofi announced last June it would launch an unbranded version of its Lantus insulin at a 60% markdown from the regular list price, and said it would cap out-of-pocket cost of Lantus at $35 for uninsured people. Two months later, Congress approved a $35 cap on monthly out-of-pocket costs on insulin covered under Medicare Part D as part of the Inflation Reduction Act—though it excluded tens of millions of Americans. President Joe Biden last month urged pharmaceutical companies to implement price reductions, arguing, “big pharma has been unfairly charging people hundreds of dollars” while “making record profits,” adding: “Not any more.” Sanofi’s U.S. General Medicines head Olivier Bogillot said on Thursday the price reduction will “improve access and affordability for millions of patients for many years.”
Tangent
Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk were all named as defendants in a lawsuit filed in January by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, claiming the pharmaceutical companies violated the state’s Unfair Competition Law by using “unlawful, unfair and deceptive” tactics to drive up the cost of insulin. Bonta accused the companies, as well as pharmacy benefits managers CVS Caremark, Express Scripts and OptumRx, of “unacceptably and artificially” inflating the cost of the diabetes medication. California joined a list of other states, including Arkansas, Minnesota, Mississippi and Kansas to take the companies to court over high insulin prices.
Big Number
$98.70. That was the average list price of a month’s supply of insulin, according to a 2021 Rand Corporation review—more than eight times the list price in Canada, France, Germany, Japan and the U.K. More than 37 million Americans—roughly 11% of the U.S. population—live with some form of diabetes, while 8.4 million Americans rely on insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association.
Further Reading
Eli Lilly Slashes Insulin Prices Up To 70% And Caps Out-Of-Pocket Costs At $35 (Forbes)
Novo Nordisk Will Lower Insulin Prices Up To 75%, Following Eli Lilly (Forbes)
Sanofi announces insulin price cap after actions by Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk (NBC News)
California Sues Eli Lilly And Other Insulin Makers For Driving Up Drug Cost (Forbes)
