Nicole DeFeudis
Editor
Novo Nordisk is cutting the price of its insulin products by up to 75%, the company announced on Tuesday.
Beginning in January 2024, Novo Nordisk will slash the price of brand name NovoLog and NovoLog Mix 70/30 insulin products by 75%, and Novolin and Levemir products by 65%.
A Novo Nordisk spokesperson said the changes have “been in development for many months, but due to increased stakeholder interest, we accelerated to announce now.”
The update also takes effect around the same time that a major change in Medicaid policy could leave some companies on the hook for larger rebates. The American Rescue Plan will eliminate the current Medicaid rebate cap in 2024, creating an incentive for companies to watch their price increases.
“Lifting the cap was always intended to produce savings by either collecting those rebates in excess of the cap or discouraging manufacturers from further price increases, or encouraging them to lower their price increases to avoid this negative rebate liability,” Edwin Park, a research professor at the Georgetown University McCourt School of Public Policy, told Endpoints News. Park added that “addressing high launch prices is still something that needs to be strengthened and proved.”
Novo Nordisk’s Novolin was listed in a 2019 JAMA piece as one of the top 25 brand-name drugs triggering the Medicaid rebate cap in 2017. Eli Lilly similarly announced a 70% discount on its popular Humalog insulin product (which topped the 2019 list), to occur in the fourth quarter of this year.
Following the government’s lead, Lilly caps out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 per month
When asked about the rebate cap, a Novo Nordisk spokesperson responded:
This was designed to enhance Novo Nordisk’s current offerings. The goal is for our collective programs to help more and more people better afford their insulin. This is why, in addition to lowering our prices on certain insulins in January 2024, we will continue our other affordability offerings, including human and analog insulins at Walmart and CVS, our My$99Insulin program, Immediate Supply program, Patient Assistance Program, and our many co-pay savings cards.
Novo noted in its press release that its unbranded biologic insulin degludec is available now at 65% off the list price of its brand-name Tresiba, and its insulin aspart products are priced at a 50% discount from the NovoLog products.
The news comes as Democrats continue to push for lower insulin prices. While the Inflation Reduction Act capped seniors’ out-of-pocket spending on insulin to $35 per month, Senate Health Committee Chair Bernie Sanders (I-VT) recently introduced a bill to set the price of insulin at $20 per vial.
“Restoring a $20 price for all insulins would help everyone who uses insulin, including the uninsured, who are the most vulnerable to rationing,” Sanders and Rep. Cori Bush (D-MO) said in a statement.
Roughly 16.5% of diabetics, or 1.3 million Americans, said they rationed insulin in 2021, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine which looked at an ongoing federal health survey.
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