Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Face Of Public Outrage, Novo Nordisk Follows In Competitors' Footsteps And Offers Discounts For Insulin
Novo Nordisk will offer cheaper insulin to U.S. diabetics, the Danish drugmaker said on Friday, in response to criticism over the high price of the medication and after similar moves by rivals Sanofi and Eli Lilly. President Donald Trump has made high prescription drug prices a top issue in the 2016 presidential campaign and said that drug companies were "getting away with murder". (9/6)
鈥淚t鈥檚 an important step for some patients and may provide a lot of savings, but it doesn鈥檛 fix a long-standing problem, which is that insulin is very expensive,鈥 she explained. 鈥淚 think it鈥檚 a temporary fix in that it will not suddenly make it more affordable for everyone. Those with insurance will have to do some math to compare the benefits. 鈥 But in general, it鈥檚 better than asking them to pay full list price.鈥 (Silverman, 9/6)
Novo also said it would introduce a new 鈥渁uthorized generic鈥 version of NovoLog and NovoLog Mix drugs that would sell at half the price of the brand version. A box of the authorized generic version of NovoLog FlexPen, which contains 5 pens, will cost $279.41, compared to $558.83 for the brand name, Novo said. (Langreth, 9/6)