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Novo Nordisk will cut the list price of some insulin products in the US by up to 75%, the Danish pharmaceutical company announced on Tuesday.
The change, which will take effect on January 1, 2024, follows a similar move by Eli Lilly earlier this month, which said it would cut list prices of several products, including Humalog, by 70% later this year.
But Eli Lilly went one step further and soon capped her out-of-pocket costs on all insulin products at $35 a month.
President Joe Biden praised Eli Lilly at the time and called on other insulin manufacturers to follow suit.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, along with French pharmaceutical company Sanofi, hold more than 90% of the US insulin market.
Following Eli Lilly’s announcement, experts expected other insulin makers to make changes as well.
“Novo Nordisk is following the leader here after Eli Lilly sharply reduced the price of its insulin products,” said KFF, formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation, executive vice president of health policy. Larry Levitt said.
The company also faces stiff competition for these drugs, said Stacey Ducetzina, a professor of health policy at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.
“We have very little to lose by making this change,” she said.
Novo Nordisk announced Tuesday that its popular fast-acting insulins NovoLog and NovoLog Mix 70/30 will be priced at $72.34 per vial and $139.71 per pen, a 75% price reduction.
The price of Levemir, a long-acting insulin, will drop 65% to $107.85 per vial and $161.77 per pen, the company said. Novolin has similar price reductions at $48.20 per vial and $91.09 per pen.
Most consumers will not pay full price for the drug. The copayment you pay at the pharmacy depends on your insurance. Under the Reducing Inflation Act, which took effect January 1, Medicare seniors will only pay $35 or less per month out-of-pocket.
Levitt said Novo Nordisk’s move is most likely to bring relief to those who don’t have insurance or who have high deductibles.
Diabetes advocacy group T1 International called Tuesday’s move a “big win” for insulin users, but added that more needs to be done.
“A vial of insulin costs about $3 to $6 to manufacture,” the group said in a statement. “$72 for 1 vial of NovoLog insulin is still too high and we continue to pressure them to demand further reductions.”
Novo Nordisk continues to offer programs to make insulin more affordable.
“Novo Nordisk remains committed to making our insulin available to people with diabetes,” said Steve Albers, senior vice president of market access and public relations at Novo Nordisk. We take that responsibility seriously.
Insulin costs in the US are higher than in other countries. According to Rand Corporation, a public policy think tank, the average list price for a single vial of insulin in the United States was $98.70 in 2018.
Sanofi is the only major insulin maker in the US that has not announced price cuts on its products.
In a statement, a Sanofi spokesperson declined to say whether the insulin list price would be reduced, instead saying the company would reduce out-of-pocket costs for the uninsured and those with private insurance. He pointed out the support program.
A Sanofi spokesperson said, “As we have done in the past, Sanofi will continue to review and update our programs and business strategy.
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