Eli Lilly Cuts Insulin Prices
Eli Lilly Cuts Insulin to $35, but Questions Remain
Eli Lilly announced that it would be reducing the list price of its insulin to $35 a vial. This decision follows years of criticism that the hormone had become too expensive for patients to afford. This move followed Biden’s State of the Union Address, where he called on Congress to institute a $35 price cap for all insulin.
Eli Lilly is not the only manufacturer looking to provide insulin at cheaper prices. Nonprofit drugmaker Civica has plans to sell biosimilar insulin for approximately $30 per vial by 2024, $5 less than the new price of Eli Lilly’s generic insulin. Additionally, Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Co., which we’ve written about in the past, plans to sell low-cost insulin. California also plans to manufacture its own insulin, investing a total of $100 million into a manufacturing facility.
Experts in drug pricing have welcomed the news from Eli Lilly, predicting that it will not undercut the efforts of others to provide low-cost insulin. Instead, the competition will put pressure on Eli Lilly to keep its prices low, ultimately helping to create a race to the bottom on insulin prices.
Dr. Vincent Rajkumar, an oncologist at the Mayo Clinic and a critic of high drug costs, said, “The more competition, the more stable this solution will be so that five to 10 years from now the prices won’t go up again.”
However, Elizabeth Pfiester, founder of T1International, a nonprofit that advocates for people with diabetes, cautions that additional competition and accountability measures are still necessary, and the government needs to regulate insulin manufacturers to hold them accountable.
While Eli Lilly’s price cuts apply to its “most commonly prescribed” insulins, Civica plans to offer a range of biosimilar insulin products, and California has not yet released details about which insulin products will be included in its program.
Experts have speculated as to the reasons behind Eli Lilly’s move. While the change may be a response to the threat of discount insulin initiatives, changes to how drugs are paid for by Medicaid may also have influenced the decision. Beginning in 2024, drugmakers could be required to pay rebates to Medicaid for drugs that have had steep price hikes. By lowering the list price of insulin, Eli Lilly could avoid these costs.
Understanding the incentives behind Eli Lilly’s decision to cut list prices could help lower the price of other drugs that patients have trouble affording. If the makers of those other drugs also slash their list prices ahead of 2024, it could demonstrate the effectiveness of the new federal policy. If they don’t, it might underscore the importance of other factors that were successful in reducing the price of insulin, such as public pressure by politicians and activists as well as increased market competition.
The move by Eli Lilly to reduce its price for insulin is certainly a positive step, but additional competition and accountability measures are still necessary to ensure that insulin is affordable for all who need it. Even at $35 a vial, insulin prices in the US would remain well above the rest of the world, with many people still struggling to get the insulin that they need.
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A Bronchoscopy Revolution
Noah Medical’s Galaxy system has been cleared by the FDA and is expected to revolutionize the way lung cancer is diagnosed. Bronchoscopies are typically used as a non-invasive way to access the lungs and take small tissue samples for further analysis, typically to see if there is a tumor or not.
The Galaxy system adds to typical endoscopes with tomosynthesis and fluoroscopy capabilities enabling doctors to see 3D images and continuous X-rays. This helps them better navigate within the lungs and provides better images. The system is also able to accurately calculate how far its arms are from a tissue of interest which helps with confirming that biopsies are taken from the correct area.
Another crucial addition Noah Medical is making is the use of more disposable parts since the lack of sterility in endoscopes has been an issue due to higher risk of infections. The bronchoscope was tested in pigs wherein operators would test the device by collecting biopsies in pig lungs at specified points and measure how accurately the system could collect a biopsy. Lung nodules with a stain were used as targets in this case. If a nodule was picked correctly, they would release the stain. In over 20 biopsies that were conducted, all of them were on target and 60% were able to target the nodule in its exact center.
This is an exciting advancement in the field of bronchoscopy. Noah medical was able to make a more sophisticated but also disposable bronchoscope which is a big need in the endoscopy area. It is also yet another example of advanced imaging techniques and robots being integrated in the field of medicine to help with more accurate patient diagnosis.
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Featured Fake News
So this week there was fake news in healthcare, but we don’t think we need to spend a bunch of time debunking a specific claim. For example, one claim was that Dr. Fauci is the son of Mother Teresa and she was involved in a human trafficking ring.
Another piece of fake news was circulated by a Kid Rock fan page and convinced people that it was posted by Kid Rock because it’s handle was @KidRockOfficial. The tweet was “Some people wouldn’t recognize tyranny if it slapped a mask on their face, made them stand 6 feet apart, and forced them to take a vaccine for a virus with a 99.8% survival rate.” The page was deleted shortly after but looking into the archive we found that its tagline was “Kid Rock fan page. We believe in America and President Trump”. We’ve already explained the problems with such claims numerous times.
The 99.8% survival rate is because of the vaccines. 6 feet is too far for droplets to travel so you are generally safe and a mask reduces the distance the potentially virus containing droplets can travel and prevents them from entering your respiratory system.
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