Novo Nordisk becomes latest to announce it is cutting insulin prices by up to 75% (EDIT: Sanofi cuts insulin prices)

[SaysWho?]

Novo Nordisk becomes latest to announce it is cutting insulin prices by up to 75% | CNN

WWW.CNN.COM

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Novo Nordisk said Tuesday it will slash the list prices of several of its popular pre-filled insulin pens and vials by up to 75%, becoming the latest drugmaker to reduce the cost of the critical medicine for diabetes patients. The change will take effect January 1.

 

Quote

Novo Nordisk’s move comes two weeks after Eli Lilly announced a series of price cuts that would lower the price of the most commonly used forms of its insulin by 70%. Eli Lilly also said it will automatically cap out-of-pocket insulin costs at $35 for people who have private insurance and use participating pharmacies, as well as expand its Insulin Value Program, which caps out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month for people who are uninsured.
 

After the reductions, Novo Nordisk’s NovoLog and NovoLog Mix 70/30 will cost $72.34 per vial and $139.71 per FlexPen.

 

Also, the company is lowering the list price of Levemir and Novolin by 65% to $107.85 per vial and $161.77 per FlexPen for Levemir and to $48.20 per vial and $91.09 per FlexPen for Novolin.

 

Quote

Last year, congressional Democrats passed the Inflation Reduction Act, which reduces Medicare beneficiaries’ out-of-pocket cost for insulin to $35 per month per prescription starting this year. Republicans blocked a measure to extend that price cap to those covered by private insurance.

In his State of the Union address last month, Biden called for capping the cost of insulin at $35 a month for all Americans. And he praised Eli Lilly’s move, describing it as “a big deal,” and calling on other drugmakers to do the same.

 

[XxEvil AshxX]

I mean, that's great and all, but I'd rather they start raising more awareness that Type 2 diabetes is reversible through diet alone and then people won't need insulin at all.

 

Unfortunately, Type 1 is still a slave to the Big Pharma. 

[GoldenTongue]

3 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I mean, that's great and all, but I'd rather they start raising more awareness that Type 2 diabetes is reversible through diet alone and then people won't need insulin at all.

Jus stop, please.

 

Type 2 diabetes is not reversible.  It is possible, in some instances, for select populations, to bring the condition into something akin to remission.  

 

And it is important to note that claims of reversal and remission are based largely upon studies in which drastic interventions were applied, most of which are unavailable or not realisticially sustainable for significant portions of the population.

 

And while there are plenty of reasons to criticize Big Pharma, the progress made in management of Type 1 Diabetes over the past ~10-15 years has been extraordinary.  Advancements in real-time/remote CGM, CGII, LGS, etc., have improved the quality of life (and reduced probabilities of complications of T1D) in profound ways, based upon efforts which must be credited in part to Big Pharma.

[Guest]

3 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I mean, that's great and all, but I'd rather they start raising more awareness that Type 2 diabetes is reversible through diet alone and then people won't need insulin at all.

 

Unfortunately, Type 1 is still a slave to the Big Pharma. 

No, type 2 is not typically reversible through diet alone. It is manageable in a majority of cases through lifestyle changes and cheap meds like metformin though. 

[Kal-El814]

3 hours ago, XxEvil AshxX said:

I mean, that's great and all, but I'd rather they start raising more awareness that Type 2 diabetes is reversible through diet alone and then people won't need insulin at all.

 

[SaysWho?]

11 minutes ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

 

Thanks for never losing this file; it's truly one of the greats.  

[Keyser_Soze]

Didn't we just have this same conversation in another thread?

[Kal-El814]

8 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Thanks for never losing this file; it's truly one of the greats.  

 

I had some bangers back in the day.

 

Spoiler

 

 

 

 

 

 

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[SaysWho?]

1 minute ago, Kal-El814 said:

 

I had some bangers back in the day.

 

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Dude, do you still have the one where that nintendo dude is wearing that jester hat and it's two frames alternating to look like he's saying no but the text is "HAHA LOLLOL OL OGHAHAHA" and then he stops blank-faced and says, "No."

 

I miss using that.  

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

What are they getting out of this, or was the only reason it hadn’t happened yet is a President never asked nicely? 
 

I mean good, but also why now? 

[Amazatron]

3 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

What are they getting out of this, or was the only reason it hadn’t happened yet is a President never asked nicely? 
 

I mean good, but also why now? 

It is a calculated business decision, nothing more, nothing less.

[Spawn_of_Apathy]

3 minutes ago, Amazatron said:

It is a calculated business decision, nothing more, nothing less.

Unless sales are so bad they need a 72% discount, I don’t see the upside. Maybe they think sales will skyrocket as more people get treated and don’t just die from diabetes, because they can’t afford medication. 
 

or maybe there’s something big about to be FDA approved, like a cure for cancer and they’re hoping to build enough good will on this that we will let them charge $10,000 a pill. 

[Kal-El814]

36 minutes ago, SaysWho? said:

 

Dude, do you still have the one where that nintendo dude is wearing that jester hat and it's two frames alternating to look like he's saying no but the text is "HAHA LOLLOL OL OGHAHAHA" and then he stops blank-faced and says, "No."

 

I miss using that.  

 

It was Iwata in a jester hat, but no, I don’t and I haven’t been able to find it.

[PaladinSolo]

15 minutes ago, Amazatron said:

It is a calculated business decision, nothing more, nothing less.

Basically just "Look we're not so bad, now totally don't look into all the other drugs we're drastically overcharging all of you for!"

[Guest]

42 minutes ago, Spawn_of_Apathy said:

Unless sales are so bad they need a 72% discount, I don’t see the upside. Maybe they think sales will skyrocket as more people get treated and don’t just die from diabetes, because they can’t afford medication. 
 

or maybe there’s something big about to be FDA approved, like a cure for cancer and they’re hoping to build enough good will on this that we will let them charge $10,000 a pill. 

 

It is very simple, most of these newer insulins are getting close to or have just arrived at the end of their patent protection and quite a few generic alternatives will be debuting in the market over the next 18 months. Their ability to unofficially collude to keep retail prices high is coming to an end.

 

This is part of why these companies are moving on to stuff like GLP-1 stimulators. A whole new market segment to charge $1000+ per month, and a much larger one (basically every type 2 diabetic, every pre-diabetic, and now all the weight loss industry).

[GoldenTongue]

Semaglutide FTW. I could swear I see commercials for about three different types/formulations a night while watching TV. 

[Gavin King]

It's also not truly a 70%+ discount. Currently, there's huge rebates on insulin products. Pharma pays PBMs. PBMs pay the rebates to Health Plans (with or without keeping a slice), Health Plans then pay those rebates to the plan sponsor (your employer) and also may or may not keep a slice. No where did I mention the patient/member. Very rare for a member to benefit directly from rebates (indirectly, in theory, lower premiums). 

 

Just example math, but if a drug cost $100 with a $70 rebate.... manufacturers can charge $30 with a $0 rebate and still make the same margins. Typically they pay rebates in order to entice PBMs/Health Plans to prefer their product over their competition on the formulary and potentially even exclude coverage all together on the competition. As others have said, patents are expiring, it's going to soon be an open market, they're likely just getting a head start and buying some good will, but it's not costing them nearly what it appears in headlines.

[Anathema-]

19 hours ago, Gavin King said:

It's also not truly a 70%+ discount. Currently, there's huge rebates on insulin products. Pharma pays PBMs. PBMs pay the rebates to Health Plans (with or without keeping a slice), Health Plans then pay those rebates to the plan sponsor (your employer) and also may or may not keep a slice. No where did I mention the patient/member. Very rare for a member to benefit directly from rebates (indirectly, in theory, lower premiums). 

 

Just example math, but if a drug cost $100 with a $70 rebate.... manufacturers can charge $30 with a $0 rebate and still make the same margins. Typically they pay rebates in order to entice PBMs/Health Plans to prefer their product over their competition on the formulary and potentially even exclude coverage all together on the competition. As others have said, patents are expiring, it's going to soon be an open market, they're likely just getting a head start and buying some good will, but it's not costing them nearly what it appears in headlines.

 

I'll always remember an episode of Garfield & Friends where they go to the grocery store then they show the manager talking to a new employee and showed off by taking a sign off the pears that said 1/35¢ and then announced a new store special for pears 2/$1 and people flocked to the pear stand and cleaned it out. 

[SaysWho?]

Another one:

 

In victory for people with diabetes, Sanofi announces insulin price caps, the last of 3 major insulin makers to do so

WWW.NBCNEWS.COM

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Sanofi, along with Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, make up about 90% of the insulin market in the U.S. All three have announced price cuts or out-of-pocket caps in recent weeks.