"Sanofi on Thursday said it’s planning to cut the U.S. price of its most popular insulin drug by 78% and cap monthly out-of-pocket costs at $35 for people who have private insurance starting next year.
In addition to its widely prescribed Lantus, the French drugmaker will reduce the list price of its short-acting insulin Apidra by 70%. Sanofi already offers a $35 monthly cap on insulin for uninsured diabetes patients.
The company is the last major insulin manufacturer to try to head off government efforts to cap monthly costs by announcing its own steep price cuts for the lifesaving hormone.
Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk made similar sweeping cuts earlier this month after years of political pressure and public outrage over the high costs of diabetes care. The three companies control over 90% of the global insulin market.
... The change takes effect Jan. 1.
President Joe Biden’s Inflation Reduction Act capped monthly insulin costs for Medicare beneficiaries at $35, but it did not provide protection to diabetes patients who are covered by private insurance.
Sen. Bernie Sanders, a Vermont independent and the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, introduced a bill earlier this month that would cap the list price of insulin at $20 per vial.
Both the president and Sanders on Tuesday directly called on Sanofi to slash its prices after Novo Nordisk announced its own cuts that day.
Roughly 37 million people in the U.S., or 11.3% of the country’s population, have diabetes, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Approximately 8.4 million [U.S.] diabetes patients rely on insulin, the American Diabetes Association said."
The move puts the drugmaker in line with a popular provision in the Inflation Reduction Act that capped the medication’s cost for seniors on Medicare.
Eli Lilly will cap the out-of-pocket cost of its insulin at $35 a month, the drugmaker said Wednesday. The move, experts say, could prompt other insulin makers in the U.S. to follow suit.
The change, which Eli Lilly said takes effect immediately, puts the drugmaker in line with a provision in the Inflation Reduction Act, which last month imposed a $35 monthly cap on the out-of-pocket cost of insulin for seniors enrolled in Medicare.
When Elon is shitty and utter inept but his actions unintentionally led to Eli Lilly and co facing a massive dose of karma and PR backlash that might make them back down on insulin price gouging.
“Eli Lilly and Co are reportedly furious with Elon.”
What is this, Freddie vs Jason for the corporate world?
It's wild that parody accounts can have such real consequences for corporations.
Also wild that they are just frankly mentioning the very real and horrifying financial decisions that these companies have made, that have killed so many innocent people in the name of the almighty dollar.
I'm confused. I thought we all already knew they were doing this shit and we were done with it. What - is it mentioning it out loud that makes it bad?
The original text included provisions that would cap insulin prices for Medicare patients and people privately insured, but the latter failed to get enough support.
UPDATE (03/15/2023): Drug manufacturer Novo Nordisk announced it is lowering the prices of several of its U.S. insulin products by up to 75% for people living with diabetes. The changes will go into effect on Jan. 1, 2024.
On March 1, drug company Eli Lilly announced it was immediately capping monthly out-of-pocket costs for its insulin at $35 per month for people with commercial insurance coverage at participating retail pharmacies. The company said it was also slashing the price of its most commonly prescribed insulins by 70% later this year. Eli Lilly is one of the three big drug companies that make insulin.