Another one! Sanofi joins the growing list of insulin makers to contain the cost of life-saving drugs

French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi is the latest company to slash insulin fees from Americans.

On Thursday, the price of the popular 100 units/mL Lantus prefilled vials will be reduced from $438.07 to $96. The price of the 10ml vials is also reduced from $292.07 to $64.

The French drugmaker said no American would have to pay more than $35 for their insulin out of pocket, the company said, including those who are uninsured. The remaining costs are covered by insurance or coupons.

Sanofi is the third company to announce price cuts of up to 78 percent after Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly — who made similar cuts that could save Americans thousands of dollars a year.

The new prices will come into effect on January 1st. The change allows Sanofi to avoid paying Medicaid rebates that new drug pricing regulations will require starting next year.

Sanofi has announced it will lower the price of its insulin to ensure consumers don’t pay more than $35 out of pocket. These include Lantus (pictured), which accounts for about 40 percent of US longer-acting insulin sales, and fast-acting Apidra

Sanofi released an unbranded version of Lantus in June 2022 that was 60 percent cheaper than the branded version. But it said the US health care system has not reaped the benefits

More than 8 million Americans use insulin shots to treat their diabetes. About one in ten is diabetic.

Sanofi said it will also reduce the price of its fast-acting Apidra insulin by 70 percent.

The company controls about 40 percent of the long-acting insulin market — with Lantus — and four percent of the rapid-acting insulin market.

The French drugmaker launched an unbranded version of Lantus in June 2022 that was 60 percent cheaper than the alternative, but said the US healthcare system hasn’t realized the benefits.

Its Lantus 100 units/ml insulin pens are currently sold in France for around 41.27 euros ($43.85), according to Goodmed.

Olivier Bogillot, head of the drugmaker’s US division of general medicine, said: “Sanofi believes that no one should have difficulty paying for their insulin and we are proud of our ongoing efforts to improve access and affordability for millions of people patients for many years.

“We launched our unbranded biologic for Lantus in June 2022 at a price 60 percent below the Lantus list price, but despite this groundbreaking low-pricing approach, the healthcare system failed to benefit due to its inherent structural challenges.

‘We are excited to have others join us in our efforts to help patients as we now accelerate the transformation of the US insulin market.’

Most insured Americans don’t regularly pay list price for insulin, but they can have an insurance co-pay based on the drug’s list price or pay full price up to a certain amount of money spent.

Uninsured individuals often have to pay full list price, forcing many patients to ration or skip doses.

Around 30 million Americans are uninsured, accounting for nearly 10 percent of the population.

The companies also offer savings programs outside of insurance.

The price cuts will allow Sanofi, Novo and Lilly, which together control about 90 percent of the U.S. insulin market, to avoid significant rebates to the U.S. government’s Medicaid program in 2024.

“After the price drop, Sanofi will actually make money on Lantus in Medicaid when it should have paid Medicaid at current prices,” said Dr. Inmaculada Hernandez, a drug pricing expert at the University of California, San Diego

Eli Lilly has announced that it will reduce the price of its two most popular shots – Humalog and Humulin – in October.

Novo will cut the price of its insulin syringes – including Levemir, Novolin, NovoLog and NovoLog Mix70/30 – in January.

Insulin prices have been a major stumbling block in recent years, as the drug’s skyrocketing price has left many American families in a bind.

An analysis in 2022 found that prices increased by 600 percent from 2002 to 2022.

Most diabetics need two to three vials of insulin a month, but some need more.

With an average list price of about $100 per vial, the cost of controlling blood sugar could be prohibitive, forcing many people to turn to a black market or ration key drugs with disastrous results.

The US is a global outlier in terms of spending on the drug, which costs between $2.28 and $3.42 to produce.

In the UK, a bottle costs around $7.50, while in Canada it’s $12 per bottle.

The price discrepancy has led a growing number of desperate Americans to turn to their northern neighbor, sometimes in busloads, to get it.

Unlike the US, the Canadian government has imposed price controls on the pharmaceutical industry.

The federal government in January began applying a $35 cap on monthly out-of-pocket expenses for patients covered by its Medicare program for people age 65 or older or those with disabilities or illnesses.

Under the American Rescue Plan, a 2021 law signed into law by President Joe Biden, drug companies will now be forced to pay more rebates if they want their drug covered by Medicaid.

Under current regulations, a company must reimburse the state governments for a portion of the payments it receives from the service.

The sharp rise in the cost of insulin over the past few decades has meant that drugmakers have quickly reached the discount ceiling on these drugs — and are allowed to keep the rest as profit.

The 2021 law removed those caps, forcing drug companies to pay significantly higher rebates.

Reducing the price of the drugs helps companies reduce the amount they would have to pay back to Medicare and will no longer have a large impact on their bottom line after the changes go into effect.

These changes are slated to go into effect early next year, timing the moves of Eli Lilly, Novo and Sanofi.

List prices are what a drug manufacturer initially sets for a product, and is what people who don’t have insurance or plans with high deductibles sometimes have to pay.

Patient advocates have long called for insulin price reductions to help uninsured people who would not be impacted by price caps tied to insurance coverage.

They found that high insulin prices force many people to ration doses, which can be detrimental to their health.

Insulin is produced by the pancreas and used by the body to turn food into energy. People with diabetes don’t produce enough insulin, or their bodies are desensitized to the hormone.

People with type 1 diabetes have to take insulin every day to survive.

Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk