Drug manufacturer to slash insulin prices

Eli Lilly and Company said on Wednesday it will implement a series of price cuts to lower the price of its most commonly used forms of insulin by 70 percent by the end of this year. The company will also drop the price of generic insulin on May 1 to $25 per vial, less than the price of Lilly’s top insulin product in 1999. Out-of-pocket costs for insulin will be capped at $35 for people with private insurance and who use participating pharmacies. The Indianapolis drugmaker also said it will expand the Insulin Value Program, which caps out-of-pocket costs for people without insurance.

Why have drugmakers been pressured to decrease the cost of insulin? The number of American adults with diabetes has more than doubled in the last 20 years to more than 37 million. The average insulin price rose from 15 percent to 17 percent per year from 2012 to 2016, according to the American Diabetes Association, and the trend has continued in recent years. A study published last year in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that about 16.5 percent of adults who use insulin rationed the drug due to cost.

Dig deeper: Read Sharon Dierberger’s report about how drugmakers profit financially from drugs used to treat rare diseases.