Posted by Michael Wonder on 25 Mar 2019
Eli Lilly sheds light on confidential drug pricing, discloses charges for popular diabetes medicine Humalog
25 March 2019 - Eli Lilly says the “net price” for insulin fell to $135 a patient a month in 2018 from $147 in 2014.
Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly pulled the curtain back on the confidential pricing structure for one of its blockbuster drugs Monday, disclosing for the first time what it charges wholesalers versus what many patients typically pay.
The company’s list prices for its popular insulin injection Humalog, versus what most patients are charged after insurance company rebates and other discounts, highlight the disparity in prices between uninsured and insured patients. The move is also a pre-emptive one as the Trump administration and Congress pressure drugmakers for more transparency and to lower drug costs.
The “net price ” patients actually pay for Eli Lilly’s insulin fell by 8.1% to $135 a patient per month in 2018 from $147 in 2014, the company said in a shareholder report released Monday. The net price is the total paid after factoring in rebates and discounts. The insulin’s average list price before the discounts rose 51.9% to $594 per patient each month.
