The Danish drugmaker said Tuesday that Novo Nordisk will reduce the US list price of some of its insulin products by up to 75%.
The change — which will take effect January 1, 2024 — follows a similar move by Eli Lilly, which said this month it would reduce the list price for several of its products, including Humalog, by 70% later this year. .
But Eli Lilly also went a step further, immediately capping the out-of-pocket cost of all its insulin products at $35 a month.
President Joe Biden praised Eli Lilly at the time, asking other insulin makers to follow suit.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, along with French drugmaker Sanofi, make up more than 90% of the insulin market in the United States.
After Eli Lilly’s announcement, experts predicted other insulin makers would make changes as well.
“After Eli Lilly drastically cut the prices of insulin products, Novo Nordisk is following the leader here,” said Larry Levitt, executive vice president for health policy at KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.
The company also faces stiff competition for these drugs, said Stacy Dusetzina, professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
“They have little to lose by making this change,” he said.
Novo Nordisk said Tuesday that its popular rapid-acting insulin Novolog and Novolog Mix 70/30 will cost $72.34 for a vial and $139.71 for a pen, a 75% reduction in price.
The company said the price of long-acting insulin Levemir would drop 65% to $107.85 per vial and $161.77 per pen. A similar reduction in Novolin prices will result in rates of $48.20 per vial and $91.09 per pen.
Most consumers do not pay the full list price of a drug; The cost they pay at the pharmacy will depend on their insurance. Due to a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that took effect on January 1, seniors on Medicare will pay no more than $35 per month.
Levitt said Novo Nordisk’s move is likely to provide the most relief to those who are uninsured or have high deductibles.
Novo Nordisk will continue to offer programs to make insulin more affordable.
“Novo Nordisk is committed to ensuring that patients living with diabetes can afford our insulin, a responsibility we take seriously,” Steve Albers, the company’s senior vice president of market access and public affairs, said in a statement. “
The cost of insulin in the US is higher than in other countries. In 2018, the average list price of a vial of insulin in the US was $98.70, according to the RAND Corporation, a public policy think tank.
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