Examining Why Major Insulin Manufacturers Dropped Insulin Prices

In the months following the US Inflation Reduction Act capping the price of insulin for Medicare recipients, three of the largest insulin manufacturers cut their prices for the drug. Leemore Dafny, PhD, broke down why the pharma giants made this decision. One key reason put forward by Dafny was the concept of corporate shaming.

According to Fraiser Kansteiner, “Back in early March, Lilly kicked off the cost-cutting parade when it announced it would slash the price of its most prescribed insulins by 70% and expand its Insulin Value Program to cap patient out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month. The Indianapolis-based drugmaker also launched Rezvoglar, its biosimilar to Sanofi’s popular insulin Lantus. Several weeks and one chiding from Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, later, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi fell in line. Novo said it would reduce the list price of its NovoLog insulin by 75% and slice the cost of Novolin and Levemir by 65% starting in January 2024. Sanofi, for its part, said it would slash the price of its most popular insulin, Lantus, by 78%, and cap out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for all patients with commercial insurance—again starting Jan. 1, 2024.”

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(Source: Fierce Pharma, April 20^th, 2023)