Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks on Wednesday pledged not to raise prices on the company’s insulin products again — the only one to Senate Health Committee Hearing Making life-saving diabetes drugs more affordable.
Committee Chair Senator Bernie Sanders sent Ricks and Novo Nordisk and Sanofi Pledged to “never raise the price of any insulin medicine again”.Controlled by the Big Three More than 90 Global Insulin Market.
Ricks was the only executive who fully agreed with Sanders’ request — at least with Lilly’s existing insulin product.
“We’re going to keep the price of insulin on the market today,” Ricks told the Vermont senator. “In fact, we’ve been cutting them.”
Meanwhile, Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen said the Danish company was committed to limiting price increases to “single digits”.
Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson responded that the company has a “responsible pricing policy”.
he also pointed out net price For Sanofi’s insulin products, it’s actually down. The net price is the amount the insurance company pays for the insulin drug after discounts and rebates. It is usually lower than the price the product is listed for.
All three companies have faced political pressure for years to make insulin more affordable for people with diabetes.
In March, they each announced they would slash the price of their most widely used insulin products.
Lilly said it would set the price of its Lispro injection at $25 a vial starting May 1, and cut the price of its Humalog and Humulin injections by 70% starting in the fourth quarter. The company also said it would limit out-of-pocket costs for people with private insurance to $35 a month at participating retail pharmacies.
Novo Nordisk said it would cut the list price of its NovoLog insulin by 75% starting next year and cut the prices of its Levemir and Novolin by 65%.
Sanofi said it plans to slash the price of its most popular insulin drug, Lantus, by 78% and the list price of its short-acting insulin Apidra by 70%.
During the hearing, Sanders called the actions “good news” and the result of public pressure.
But the senator said the committee intends to hold hearings next year to make sure those price cuts “really happened.”
“We just don’t need words. We need actions,” Sanders said in his opening remarks.
“We have to make sure the price reductions work so that every American with diabetes can affordably get the insulin they need,” Sanders added.
According to statistics, about 37 million people in the United States have diabetes CDC. About 8.4 million people with diabetes The patient is insulin dependent.
High prices are forcing many Americans quantitative insulin or reduce their use of drugs. 2021 study Nearly one in five U.S. adults skipped, delayed or used less insulin to save money, found in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
The Lower Inflation Act, a Democratic plan signed by Biden last year, capped monthly insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $35 a month for prescription drugs, but failed to provide protections for diabetics who buy private insurance.
According to the Department of Health and Human Services, more than 2 million diabetics who take insulin have private insurance. Another roughly 150,000 patients who take insulin are uninsured, HHS said.
Last month, Sen. Jeanne Shaheen (D-N.H.) and Sen. Susan Collins (R., Maine) introduced bipartisan legislation that would require private health insurance Capped at $35 per month For one of each insulin type and dosage form.
These insulin types include rapid-acting, short-acting, intermediate-acting, and long-acting, as well as premixed insulins. Dosage forms include vials, pens, and inhalers.
