US drugmaker Eli Lilly says slashing insulin prices

Yahoo – AFP, John BIERS, March 1, 2023 

US pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly announced Wednesday it would cut the cost of its insulin by 70 percent, with President Joe Biden calling on others to follow suit to tackle soaring drug prices.

 Manufacturers have ratcheted up insulin prices in recent years, hitting millions of Americans living with diabetes -- and drawing sharp political criticism. 

"Insulin costs less than $10 to make, but Americans are sometimes forced to pay over $300 for it. It's flat wrong," said Biden in a statement. He hailed Eli Lilly's price cut as "huge news." 

"It's time for other manufacturers to follow," Biden added. 

Indianapolis-based Lilly announced a series of steps to rein in prices of the life-saving drug, such as capping out-of-pocket costs at $35 per month for people with insurance. 

"Lilly is taking these actions to make it easier to access Lilly insulin and help Americans who may have difficulty navigating a complex healthcare system," the drugmaker said in a statement. 

While the $35 cap takes effect immediately, other measures will be implemented in the course of 2023. 

A centerpiece is the 70 percent price drop in Humalog, Lilly's most commonly prescribed insulin. 

The incidence of diabetes in the United States in adults has doubled over the last 20 years, afflicting 37.3 million people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 

Insulin prices have soared in the US, costing over eight times more than in 32 comparable high-income countries, a 2020 Rand Corporation study found. 

But much of the bounty from lofty prices do not go to pharma firms. Instead, they are passed on to health insurers in the form of rebates. As a result, the financial hit from Lilly's decision could fall hardest on insurers. 

The unaffordability of insulin -- particularly to uninsured Americans -- has become a rallying cry for pharmaceutical industry critics. 

Self-rationing insulin 

The cost of a five-pack of Humalog is currently $530.40, although the out-of-pocket price to a user varies depending on one's insurance plan. Average monthly use varies by user, Eli Lilly says on its website. 

Drug pricing in the United States is affected not only by the cost of producing and distributing the pharmaceutical, but also other players such as insurers and pharmacy benefit management companies. 

Critics such as progressive Senator Bernie Sanders have blasted the industry as emblematic of "unacceptable corporate greed." 

"At a time when Eli Lilly made over $7 billion in profits last year, public pressure forced them to reduce the price of insulin by 70%," Sanders said on Twitter after the price-cut announcement. 

"Sanofi and Novo Nordisk must do the same," he added, referring to two other companies which along with Lilly dominate the insulin market. 

Both Sanofi and Novo Nordisk released statements to AFP pointing to programs to help make insulin more affordable, including to uninsured users. But neither company commented directly on whether they would match the Lilly plan. 

A survey by nonprofit T1International showed that one in four respondents living with diabetes reported rationing their insulin because of the financial strain. 

The Inflation Reduction Act, signed into law last year by Biden, capped insulin prices for Medicare recipients at $35 per month, but people with private insurance or without insurance were left out. 

Biden, in his State of the Union Address, called on lawmakers to rein in "Big Pharma" and "finish the job this time" by instituting a national cap on insulin costs. 

In the company's statement, Eli Lilly Chief Executive David Ricks urged rival producers to join the effort. 

"We know that 7 out of 10 Americans don't use Lilly insulin. We are calling on policymakers, employers and others to join us in making insulin more affordable," said Ricks. 

The company's statement referred uninsured consumers to an insulin affordability website, saying they could "receive Lilly insulins for $35 per month." 

Lily shares were up 1.2 percent at $315.07 in afternoon trading. 

Because most of the price cut will affect rebates from Lilly to insurers rather than revenues to the drugmaker itself, Wednesday's announcement will leave "Lilly less affected than the price cuts would suggest," said Morningstar analyst Damien Conover in a note. 

The cut should not "significantly disrupt" Lilly sales, while insurers "will need to take the hit" from Washington's fixation on runaway prices, he added. 

"Addressing the pricing concerns around insulin should help Lilly maintain pricing power with new innovative drugs," said Conover.

Small-scale testing of Dutch corona medicine ‘within six months’

DutchNews, May 15, 2020

Illustration: Depositphotos.com

Dutch research into an antibody which can block infection by coronavirus has found potential sponsors in three big pharmaceuticals and small-scale testing could begin within six months months, broadcaster NOS reports. 

To turn the antibody into a medicine and enable large-scale production, the research team at Utrecht and Erasmus universities will need to partner up with a big pharmaceutical company. 

Principal investigator Berend Jan Bosch told the broadcaster that he has been approached by two or three big companies who are ready to ‘invest millions’ in developing a medicine. The patent would remain in the hands of the researchers, while the pharmaceutical in question will take a licence to the antibody. None of the interested parties were named. 

The antibody is currently being tested on animals. If all goes according to plan, a small-scale trial among consenting patients could be carried out within six months, Bosch said. 

Bosch, fellow researcher Frank Grosveld  and a team of international investigators went public with the finding in mid March and recently published a paper in the prestigious scientific journal Nature. 

Left-over material 

The antibody, a remnant of earlier research into coronaviruses like SARS and MERS, was found in a freezer at the Utrecht university lab for animal science. ‘We started work on it and found that one of the antibodies not only bind to the virus but block the infection of the cells as well,’ Bosch said. 

The presence of the old material meant the team had a head start in the international scramble to find a medicine or vaccine to combat the virus which has killed 303,000 people worldwide so far. Israel too has discovered antibody, Bosch said, but is about three months behind the Dutch team. 

The medicine will be used in two ways, Bosch said. ‘It can be given to people who already have the virus but also to people who don’t have it so the antibody protects them if they are exposed to the virus.’ 

Even if a vaccine were to be ready next year, the medication will still be useful for people who react badly to vaccines and people with underlying medical problems who are unable to produce antibodies at all, Bosch said.

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Africa gets generic version of most effective HIV drug

Yahoo – AFP, June 28, 2017

A nurse takes a blood sample on March 8, 2011 in a mobile clinic set up to test
students for HIV at Madwaleni high school near Mtubatuba in Kwazulu Natal,
South Africa (AFP Photo/STEPHANE DE SAKUTIN)

Nairobi (AFP) - The generic version of the most advanced drug against HIV has been introduced in Kenya, a first in Africa where more than 25 million have the disease, the NGO Unitaid said Wednesday.

The drug, Dolutegravir (DTG) is the anti-retroviral drug of choice for those living with HIV in developed countries, but its high price has put it out of reach for most struggling with the disease in Africa.

"The generic DTG has two advantages: on the one hand, it is very good from a pharmaceutical point of view. On the other hand, it is much cheaper," said Robert Matiru of Unitaid, which works to reduce the costs of medicines treating AIDS, tuberculosis or malaria.

He described the drug as "the most effective HIV treatment currently on the market."

A box of 30 pills of DTG, which lasts a month, costs between $25 (21 euros) and $50. The generic version only costs $4.

Kenya has already started rolling out the new drug, which will initially be provided for free to 27,000 people living with HIV who are intolerant to the side effects of the current best drug used in the country.

It will become available nationwide later in the year, and will also be rolled out in Nigeria and Uganda.

The drug is easier to take than those currently on the market, requiring only one pill a day, causing fewer side effects, and patients are less likely to develop resistance, said Matiru.

Around 37 million people live with HIV/AIDS around the world, 70 percent of them in Africa, according to 2015 statistics from the World Health Organisation (WHO).