CSRXP STATEMENT ON ELI LILLY ANNOUNCEMENT ON PRICE OF INSULIN PRODUCTS

More Big Pharma Companies Should Also Lower Their Insulin Prices, But Policymakers Must Address Root Cause of High Drug Prices To Secure Lasting Relief

Washington, D.C. – The Campaign for Sustainable Rx Pricing (CSRxP) released a statement Wednesday in response to an announcement from Eli Lilly and Company (Lilly) that the brand name drug maker plans to limit list prices for several of its branded insulin products this year, including Humalog and Humulin, as well as interchangeable biosimilar Rezvoglar.

“Lower prices for prescription drugs will help patients afford the medications they need to survive,” said CSRxP executive director Lauren Aronson. “Eli Lilly has provided an important reminder that Big Pharma companies alone control the prices set on their products and other manufacturers of insulin should join them in lowering their prices.”

“Big Pharma has an extensive history of gaming the system to keep drug prices high at the expense of American patients,” Aronson continued. “Nowhere has this been more evident than Big Pharma’s egregious shadow pricing tactics used to dramatically increase the price of insulin for years, which led to the public blowback that undoubtedly contributed to Eli Lilly’s announcement today.”

“To lower drug prices and secure lasting relief, more must be done to address the root cause of high prices by cracking down on Big Pharma’s egregious anti-competitive and pricing practices to boost competition and help more affordable alternatives come to market, more quickly,” Aronson added. “CSRxP looks forward to continuing to work with policymakers to hold Big Pharma accountable with market-based solutions that will achieve lasting progress toward lower drug prices.”

Big Pharma has repeatedly hiked insulin prices at rates far out-pacing inflation, despite little or no improvement to the life-saving drug. Between 1996 and 2006, the price of insulin increased by 700 percent. And in 2016, the average price per month reached $450, leaving one-in-four American patients prescribed this medication struggling to afford it.

As a 2021 U.S. Senate Finance Committee report revealed, three companies – Novo Nordisk, Sanofi And Eli Lilly – control 99 percent of the marketplace and have worked in “lockstep” to limit competition and increase prices:

Read more on Big Pharma’s lead role in increasing insulin prices HERE.

Read more on bipartisan, market-based solutions to hold Big Pharma accountable HERE.

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