by Eli Lilly plans to reduce the prices of its top-prescribed insulin products by 70% and will also limit customer deductibles to $35 per month for those with commercial insurance who use its insulin.
The change comes as Eli Lilly and other insulin manufacturers are constantly criticized for their pricing, which has pushed more people with diabetes into it to ration insulin or reduce their use of the drug. Rationing insulin can lead to illness and death, while some groups claim unaffordable insulin poses a risk human rights violations.
About 3 in 10 diabetics in the US rely on insulin from Eli Lilly, one of three pharmaceutical companies, along with Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, which control the market for the drug. Since the introduction of their analog insulin products more than two decades ago, the three drug companies have sharply increased the prices of the drugs, which control blood sugar better than so-called human insulin.
Eli Lilly announced on Wednesday that it would reduce the list price of its Humalog 100 units/mL1, its most commonly prescribed insulin, by 70%. The price cut will take effect in the fourth quarter of 2023, the company said in a statement.
The company announced that the list price of Humalog U-100 10ml vials will decrease from $274.70 to $66.40.
The list price of Humulin U-100 10ml vial will decrease from $148.70 to $44.61, it added.
The drugmaker said it will also lower the list price of its unbranded insulin called Insulin Lispro Injection 100 units/mL to $25 per vial, which goes into effect May 1. That’s a lower price than a vial of Humalog in 1999, the company noted.
“While the current healthcare system provides access to insulin for most diabetics, it still does not provide affordable insulin for everyone, and that needs to change,” CEO David A. Ricks said in a statement.
Eli Lilly also said it will limit the cost of ownership at participating retail pharmacies to $35 for people with insurance who are prescribed the company’s insulin. People without insurance can download an Insulin Value Program savings card to buy Lilly insulin products for $35 a month, she added.
The price cuts come after the Biden administration’s Anti-Inflation Act capped the price of insulin for insured members of Medicare, the health insurance plan for people age 65 and older, to $35 a month.
