California takes first steps to ensure affordable insulin, signs $50M deal with Civica: California governor’s office in a recent announcement has shared that the state has successfully secured a manufacturer in the form of Civica to produce biosimilar versions of long and short-term insulin at affordable prices.
The state has invested $50 million in addition to cash that has been raised via philanthropy for the production and distribution of insulin under the label CalRx.
The agreement is part of CalRx Biosimilar Insulin Initiative under which Civica will produce interchangeable versions of Sanofi’s Lantus, Novo Nordisk’s Novolog, and Eli Lilly’s Humalog which will be called gargline, aspart, and lispro respectively. It was 3 years ago when Governor Newson first revealed his plans for California to establish its brand of affordable generic products and these insulin products are the first to be made under this initiative.
A single 10ml vile of insulin will cost no more than $30 and a box of five 3 ml prefilled pens will retail at $55. Patients in California will have access to this insulin at local pharmacies or through mail-order pharmacies since it is obligatory for them to order and stock it.
“Many Californians ration their insulin because they can’t afford it and that can have dire health consequences. It does not have to be this way,” said Governor Gavin Newsom. He also pointed out the significance of the problem by stating that this issue was prevalent nowhere else in the United States.
What makes the timing of the announcement interesting is the fact that it comes at the helm of three major insulin makers, including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi, announcing that they will be cutting down on the out-of-pocket price of their products. All 3 producers had announced price caps and cuts of between 65% and 78% on their top-selling insulins.
Governor Newson however has dubbed this price cut as misleading since the discount provided by these producers will be borne by insurance plans. In contrast, the state initiative would cut the cost of insulin for all patients and not just those with insurance thereby providing cost savings to the overall healthcare system, not just to the consumer.
As of yet, the production site identified for this project is on the opposite coast, namely in Petersburg, Virginia, and the 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility is in the late stage of construction. California Health and Human Services Agency along with Civica are looking for a suitable production site within California as the next phase of the partnership.
Only two months prior, California had sued 3 dominant pharmacy benefit managers and insulin producers for unlawfully raising the price of insulin.
Civica is a Utah-based, non-profit manufacturer of generic drugs and aims to combat high prices and shortages by strengthening the supply chain. Only a year ago the non-profit announced its partnership with companies such as Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, and Providence to manufacture and distribute generic glargine, lispro, and aspart. It is worth mentioning that none of these drugs have still been approved.
Civica has shared that test runs for the insulin are expected to start by this year and by 2024, the manufacturer will have hopefully filled its findings with the FDA.
Also Read: ABPI suspends Novo Nordisk’s membership for two years on charges of breaches of code of practice
