Novo Nordisk to Stop Selling Key Insulin Drug in Germany

By Anna Molin

Danish insulin maker Novo Nordisk A/S (NVO) on Wednesday said it will stop selling Tresiba, one of its key insulin drugs, in Germany after a row over prices with the country's powerful health insurance body.

Novo Nordisk, the Nordic region's biggest company by market capitalization, said GKV-Spitzenverband, the German national association of statutory health insurance funds, has decided it will lower the price of Tresiba from around 2.50 euros ($2.77) a day to below EUR1 per day, same as the price offered for insulin launched 30 years ago. The fund sets drug prices in the country after consultations with health care watchdogs.

The decision to offer the drug at a lower price came after the German Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care, or IQWiG, in June concluded Tresiba has no added benefit compared to other diabetes medicines, partly due to a lack of data. Being able to prove an added benefit can help drug companies secure a higher price.

Novo Nordisk Executive Vice President Jakob Riis said IQWiG requested data comparing Tresiba to old human insulin products whereas Novo Nordisk had done trials comparing the drug to the most advanced insulin products on the market. These trials, which were carried out to meet the requirements of the European health authorities, took years to complete and Mr. Riis said it would be too time-consuming and costly to conduct individual trials to satisfy individual markets.

"We're not happy to say the least," Mr. Riis said. "It's problematic when individual countries have demands for things the European authorities didn't even request."

The company has spent around $1 billion on developing Tresiba, which is pegged to take on Sanofi SA's (SAN.FR) best-selling diabetes treatment Lantus. Accepting a lower price would undermine its research efforts and spell the end of Novo Nordisk's business model of 30 years, Mr. Riis said.

Ann Marini, a spokeswoman for GKV-Spitzenverband, in an email said an arbitration body set a price last week after six months of negotiations ended without an agreement. She declined further comment.

Mr. Riis said Novo Nordisk would try to limit the impact on its employees, but that there was no guarantee the withdrawal wouldn't lead to layoffs.

Supplies will be phased out until the end of September this year and will affect some 40,000 people with diabetes currently using Tresiba.

Novo Nordisk sells a range of insulin products in Germany of which Tresiba makes up less than 10%.

Write to Anna Molin at [e-mail]; Twitter: @AnnaWSJ

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