California Accuses Drug Manufacturers of Inflating prices

California Accuses Drug Manufacturers of Inflating prices

By Tiffany Smith

Budrigannews.com – The state’s attorney general made the announcement on Thursday that the state is filing a lawsuit against the leading insulin manufacturers and pharmacy benefit managers in the United States. The state claims that these entities are exploiting their market power to overcharge patients for the life-saving medication.

Eli Lilly (NYSE:) is the target of the lawsuit, which was filed in Los Angeles’s California Superior Court. Novo Nordisk (NYSE:) and Co. Sanofi and A/S (NASDAQ:) SA, which collectively produce more than 90% of the insulin medications sold worldwide.

UnitedHealth Group Inc. (NYSE:) is one of the three largest pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) listed. CVS Health Corp, an Optum subsidiary (NYSE:) Cigna Corp and CVS Caremark (NYSE:) NASDAQ: Express Scripts The top three PBMs represent approximately 80% of the market and negotiate prices with manufacturers for the drugs on the lists of drugs covered by health insurance plans.

Diabetes patients take insulin to keep their blood sugar under control. According to the American Diabetes Association, approximately 8.4 million Americans rely on insulin.

For uninsured patients, Eli Lilly and Sanofi had previously announced that they would set a price limit of $35 for a 30-day supply of insulin. For insured patients, Eli Lilly’s cap also applies to out-of-pocket expenses.

According to California’s Unfair Competition Law, the companies were able to raise insulin prices at the expense of patients due to their market dominance. Unspecified financial damages are being sought by the state.

In recent years, the prices of the most popular insulin drugs have skyrocketed. A report that was presented to Congress in 2021 claims that Sanofi has increased the price of Lantus by 715 percent, while Eli Lilly has increased the price of its Humalog by 1,219 percent per vial since its introduction, while Novo Nordisk has increased the price of NovoLog by 627 percent, and Minnesota, Mississippi, Arkansas, and Kansas, as well as groups of drug purchasers, have previously brought similar lawsuits.