insulin Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

California partners with manufacturer to make affordable generic insulin

[Insulin molecular model image Dr_Microbe/Adobe Stock]

The state of California has established a $50 million collaboration over a decade with the generic drug manufacturer Civica. The goal of the collaboration is to create affordable state-branded generic insulin.

Qualified individuals may obtain a 10-mL vial of generic insulin for $30 or less. California plans to provide a pack containing five prefilled 3 mL pens for $55 or less.

Governor Gavin Newsom hopes California’s emergence as an insulin-maker will lead insulin prices to collapse.

Echoing these efforts, President Biden has made it clear that his administration is dedicated to bringing down health care expenses. In that vein, Biden has urged pharmaceutical giants to rein in insulin prices.

Major insulin makers respond to pressure for lower prices

In recent weeks, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) and Sanofi (Nasdaq:SNY) …

Lilly sees stock dip after fake Twitter profile makes bogus insulin announcement

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) saw its share price drop about 4% Friday to $352.36 after a fake Twitter account claimed the company would make insulin available at no cost.

“We are excited to announce insulin is free now,” read the fake announcement from @EliLillyandCo, which received more than 1,500 retweets and 10,000 likes before Twitter removed the bogus announcement.

“We apologize to those who have been served a misleading message from a fake Lilly account. Our official Twitter account is @LillyPad,” the company announced on Twitter.

Today, LLY shares ticked up about 1% in mid-day trading to $355.53.

Twitter withdrew its paid subscription service that some users used to exploit the service by impersonating companies and celebrities.

The news has highlighted the cost of Lilly’s insulins. For instance, a vial of its Humalog insulin costs $274.70 without insurance.

Lilly has responded to the renewed attention on its pricing by describing its…

Novo Nordisk settles Danish securities lawsuit

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) has settled a securities lawsuit in Denmark filed in August 2019 in the district court of Glostrup.

In 2019, Novo Nordisk vowed to fight the allegations contained in the lawsuit, which alleged that the company’s insulin-related profits fell at the same time prices and sales increased from February 2015 and February 2017. The dip in profits resulted from an uptick in rebates to pharmacy benefit managers.

Investors behind the suit claimed that Novo Nordisk had exaggerated its U.S. insulin revenue in this time period.

In the settlement, the Bagsværd, Denmark–based company did not admit any liability or wrongdoing.

The lawsuit was related to several shareholders alleging that Novo Nordisk did not appropriately disclose facts related to its U.S. sales of insulin products. The shareholders initially sought DKK 11,785,192,218 (approximately $1.8 billion) in damages.

NVO shares have fallen steadily in January 2022 in …

MannKind enrolls first patient in Afrezza study focusing on children

Rapid-acting insulin specialist MannKind Corp. (NSDQ:MNKD) has enrolled the first pediatric patient in its INHALE-1 study evaluating its Afrezza (Technosphere Insulin) with basal insulin versus multiple daily injections of insulin. The study will enroll participants aged four to 17 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

Afrezza first won FDA approval in 2014, and MannKind initially partnered with Sanofi (NSDQ:SNY) to market the drug. Sanofi pulled out of the partnership in 2016.

The INHALE-1 is a 26-week open-label, randomized study with a 26-week extension.

The primary endpoint of the study will be the average HbA1c level after 26 weeks. Secondary endpoints include changes in fasting plasma glucose and the rate of hypoglycemic events at the same interval.

Earlier this year, MannKind CEO Michael Castagna said that the company has focused on increasing the number of presentations and publications related to Afrezza to boost its sales.

MNKD shares, …

Lilly cuts price of Lispro insulin by 40%

Starting January 1, 2021, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) will reduce the list price of Insulin Lispro Injection in the U.S. to match 2008 levels. The 40% price cut will also extend to the company’s non-branded insulins.

Still, the company acknowledged that people with fixed insurance co-pays or beneficiaries of Lilly’s affordability programs might not see direct savings for Insulin Lispro Injection.

In recent years, a number of politicians and physicians have complained about the high cost of insulin in the U.S.

For instance, Senator Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) lamented earlier this year that insulin prices had “gone through the roof.” Several Democratic presidential candidates in 2020 also lambasted the high cost of insulin.

A 2020 article published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings reported that analog insulin costs 10 times more in the U.S. than in other developed nations.

Three companies, Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi-Aventis, control the bulk …

Novo Nordisk settles U.S. securities class action suit

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) has agreed in principle to settle securities class action litigation in the Federal District Court of New Jersey. The Bagsværd, Denmark–based company would pay $100 million in the settlement.

That amount includes plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, expenses and settlement costs.

The lawsuit alleged that the company made misleading statements regarding the price of its insulin.

The agreement contains no admission of liability or wrongdoing. The company stressed in a statement that it believes the “plaintiffs’ claims are without any merit.”

“While we are confident in the facts and merits of our position, we believe that resolving this matter is the right business decision for Novo Nordisk and our shareholders,” said Tomas Haagen, general counsel at Novo Nordisk.

Purchasers of American Depository Receipts initially filed the lawsuit in 2017.

Novo Nordisk, along with Eli Lilly and Sanofi-Aventis, has faced litigation ove…

Walmart teams up with Novo Nordisk to launch private-brand analog insulin

Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is launching what it describes as the first private label analog insulin. The company estimates the insulin products will save customers between 58% and 70% of the cost of branded insulin.

Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) will manufacture the analog insulin, which is a type of lab-grown insulin genetically engineered to optimize glucose control. The retail price of analog insulin vials will be $72.88, while a FlexPen insulin pen will cost $85.88. Walmart has concluded that the per-unit savings of the products will be $101 per vial and $251 per insulin pen, respectively.

The insulin will only be available through Walmart’s ReliOn brand of diabetes products.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Delivery Business.

Nominations open for the Leonard Award celebrating 100 years of insulin

Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is looking for nominations for its inaugural Leonard Award series, which highlights advances in diabetes management. The company will select five winners and donate $100,00 to the non-profit Life for a Child, which provides medicines and supplies to children and youth with type 1 diabetes in developing countries.

Lilly is launching the award program to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the discovery of insulin in 1921. Sir Frederick G. Banting, Charles H. Best and J.J.R. Macleod at the University of Toronto discovered the hormone in 1921. James B. Collip later purified it, giving rise to the first use of insulin to treat diabetes on January 11, 1922.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Delivery Business.