California's plan to manufacture cheap insulin: What we know so far
California Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state would once again be "taking matters into our own hands" with a plan to manufacture its own insulin.
The $100 million investment announced last week includes contracting with a California-based manufacturer and making low-cost insulin products. Newsom previously hinted at the strategy in January. But beyond the investment, details are scarce.
The state previously announced a plan to manufacture generic drugs, but that effort has shown little results two years later.
The new endeavor mirrors an effort by non-profit group Civica Rx, which announced it would produce three different insulin products by 2024 and for no more than $30 per vial and and a maximum of $55 for a box of five pre-filled pen cartridges.
The three types of insulins are glargine, lispro and aspart (biologics corresponding to, and interchangeable with, Lantus, Humalog and Novolog respectively), according to a Civica Rx spokesperson.
"The initiative is on track for Civica’s insulin to be available beginning in 2024," they said in an email to Yahoo Finance Friday.
Capping prices
Meanwhile, Congress is looking to cap insulin prices at $35 per month. A bill to that effect passed the House in April and awaits action by the Senate. Some states have passed laws that would cap per month prices between $25 to $100 in recent years.
On average, diabetics use two to three vials per month, and there are different types of insulin shots available.
The three major insulin makers, Novo Nordisk (NVO), Sanofi (SNY) and Eli Lilly (LLY) have all reduced their own prices as well. Initially all reduced to $99 per month, but Sanofi and Eli Lilly have both further reduced to $35 per month — with all three providing other affordability support options for eligible individuals.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid previously set the $35 cap for Medicare Part D members during the Trump administration, and the bill in Congress would codify that policy as well as expand the cap to some individual and group plans.
In addition to these efforts, the Federal Trade Commission is looking at how pharmacy benefits managers, like CVS (CVS), Express Scripts (CI), OptumRx (UNH) and Humana (HUM), play a role in the ever-increasing cost of insulin.
The life-saving treatment for diabetics today is a synthetic version of the original formula for insulin, which is now more than 100 years old. Its why steep price hikes over the years — 54% from 2014 to 2019 alone —have spurred lawsuits and increasing public pressure to find relief for patients who rely on it daily and are unable to afford it.
Follow Anjalee on Twitter @AnjKhem
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