Eli Lilly Offers Discount for Insulin

Eli Lilly & Co., a major manufacturer of insulin, said it would discount the injectable drug by as much as 40% amid soaring prices for the treatment.

The move, which will benefit those who pay the highest of out-of-pocket costs for the lifesaving treatment, comes amid increasing public backlash over rising drug prices.

The company said the discounts, provided by Lilly through a partnership with Express Scripts Holding Co., aim to reduce costs for people who pay full retail prices at the pharmacy. The program is targeting individuals without health insurance or who are in the deductible-paying phase of high-deductible insurance plans.

The discounts start Jan. 1 and are available through mobile and web platforms hosted by Blink Health, a New York startup that promises consumers lower prices for generic prescription drugs.

Lilly said it crafted the program after meeting with "leaders in the diabetes community" as well as people who have diabetes about the rising price of insulin.

The major manufacturers of insulin—Eli Lilly of Indianapolis, Novo Nordisk A/S of Denmark and Sanofi SA of France—are collecting about the same or less than they did several years ago. The price increases—top-selling insulins have more than doubled in price since 2011—reflect the growing role of middlemen known as pharmacy-benefit managers who negotiate rebates and fees based on list prices.

This encourages high list prices and steep behind-the-scenes discounts, leading to some bill payers receiving lower overall costs while uninsured patients and those with certain health plans pay more.

This convoluted payment system for drugs in the U.S. is becoming a regular source of public outrage, most recently with Mylan NV's EpiPen, an emergency allergy treatment. Insulin, like EpiPen, is used by millions of Americans.

Write to Joshua Jamerson at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

December 13, 2016 08:45 ET (13:45 GMT)

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