Novo Nordisk turns into second firm to announce cuts to US insulin costs

Danish pharmaceutical firm Novo Nordisk introduced on Tuesday it might be decreasing the costs of a few of its insulin merchandise within the U.S. by as much as 75 p.c, changing into the second firm to take such motion after Eli Lilly’s announcement earlier this month.

4 of Novo Nordisk’s “legacy merchandise” will see value drops starting from 65 to 75 p.c, the corporate stated in its press launch.

NovoLog and NovoLog Combine 70/30 are quick performing types of insulin that are available in prefilled vials or pens. After a 75 p.c minimize of their checklist value, the prices for these merchandise might be $72.34 in vial kind and $139.71 in pen kind.

The costs for Novo Nordisk merchandise Novolin and Levemir, longer performing types of insulin, might be minimize down by 65 p.c, dropping to $107.85 and $48.20 of their vial types, respectively. These costs adjustments will take impact starting on Jan. 1, 2024.

These value cuts had been first reported by the Wall Road Journal.

“We’ve been, and stay dedicated to, creating a sustainable path ahead that balances affected person affordability, market dynamics, and evolving coverage adjustments,” a Novo Nordisk spokesperson stated in a press release to The Hill. “These updates have been in improvement for a lot of months, however as a consequence of elevated stakeholder curiosity, we accelerated to announce now.”

The improved stakeholder curiosity was probably spurred by Eli Lilly’s announcement at the beginning of March that it might be capping the price of its hottest insulin merchandise by 70 p.c and capping out-of-pocket month-to-month prices to $35. Together with Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk command the overwhelming majority of the worldwide insulin market.

President Biden was fast to notice this announcement in a press release launched on Tuesday.

“On that entrance, I’m happy at right this moment’s announcement that, consistent with my name, Novo Nordisk might be decreasing their insulin costs by 75 p.c, following Eli Lilly’s motion,” stated Biden. “This builds on the essential progress we made final yr once I signed a legislation to cap insulin at $35 for seniors. I urge all different producers to observe swimsuit and Republicans in Congress to affix us and cap insulin at $35 for all People.”