Tag Archives: Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly backs U.S. proposal on drug rebates to lower costs

The logo and ticker for Eli Lilly and Co. are displayed on a screen on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) in New York, U.S., May 18, 2018. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

By Tamara Mathias

(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co on Wednesday embraced a U.S. government proposal to end a decades-old system of rebates drugmakers make to industry middlemen, saying it could lower the cost of insulin and other prescription drugs for patients.

Lilly, along with other major insulin makers, Sanofi SA and Novo Nordisk, has been under mounting pressure from patients and politicians over the rising cost of the life-sustaining diabetes treatment.

“While it’s still a proposal, we see this as … a win for patients, lowering their out-of-pocket costs at the pharmacy counter with the greatest benefit realized by patients taking more highly-rebated products such as insulin,” Chief Executive David Ricks said on a call with analysts.

Drugmakers argue they have to keep prices high because of the rebates they must pay to pharmacy benefit managers and health insurers to get products on their lists of covered drugs. In January, the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump proposed a rule that would end the rebate system or pass along the savings to patients.

“We’ll adapt to whatever rules come out and how they get finalized,” Ricks said.

Lilly on Wednesday also cut its 2019 profit and revenue forecasts to account for disappearing sales of its cancer drug Lartruvo, which won conditional U.S. approval in 2016 based on early data but last month failed to extend patient survival a confirmatory trial. Costs related to Lilly’s pending $8 billion acquisition of Loxo Oncology also contributed to the revised forecast.

Lilly has said it is suspending promotion of Lartruvo and it will no longer be prescribed to new U.S. patients.

The Indianapolis-based drugmaker’s research and development spending is also expected to rise as it develops Loxo’s pipeline of targeted drugs for cancers driven by rare genetic mutations.

The company said it now expects 2019 adjusted earnings of $5.55 to $5.65 per share, down from its prior forecast of $5.90 to $6.00. It expects revenue of $25.1 billion to $25.6 billion versus its prior view of $25.3 billion to $25.8 billion.

“The forecast cut was generally expected, given the Loxo acquisition and the Lartruvo failure were known events,” Edward Jones analyst Ashtyn Evans said.

“Diabetes will always be an area where we’ll see pricing pressure. Lilly fully takes that into consideration when giving guidance,” she added.

Excluding items, Lilly earned $1.33 per share, a penny shy of analysts’ average estimate, according to IBES data from Refinitiv.

Eli Lilly shares fell 1.3 percent to $118.82.

(Reporting by Manogna Maddipatla, Tamara Mathias in Bengaluru and Julie Steenhuysen in Chicago; Editing by Saumyadeb Chakrabarty and Bill Berkrot)

U.S. lawmakers request info from insulin makers on rising prices

FILE PHOTO: Insulin supplies are pictured in the Manhattan borough of New York City, New York, U.S., January 18, 2019. REUTERS/Carlo Allegri

By Yasmeen Abutaleb

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Two powerful U.S. lawmakers sent letters to the three leading insulin manufacturers on Wednesday requesting information on why its cost has skyrocketed in recent years and how much the companies profit from the life-sustaining diabetes treatment.

Democratic Representatives Frank Pallone and Diana DeGette, the chairman and a top-ranking member of the House Energy and Commerce Committee, respectively, wrote to the heads of Eli Lilly and Co, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, the long-time leading manufacturers of insulin. The drugmakers have all raised the price of insulin at similar rates over the last several years.

“Despite the fact that it has been available for decades, prices for insulin have skyrocketed in recent years, putting it out of reach for many patients,” the lawmakers wrote.

“As one of the few manufacturers of insulin in the United States, your company is well-suited to shed light on these issues and offer potential solutions,” the letter to the three companies said.

The committee has not set a date for a hearing, a spokesman for DeGette said. It has the power to subpoena the drugmakers if they do not answer the committee’s request.

The annual cost of insulin for treating a type 1 diabetes patient in the United States nearly doubled from 2012 to 2016 to $5,705 from $2,864, according to a recent study.

The lawmakers’ letters come amid intensifying scrutiny from Congress over the high cost of prescription drugs for U.S. consumers. Both the House Oversight Committee and Senate Finance Committee held hearings on prescription drug prices on Tuesday, with a focus on insulin.

Sanofi confirmed receipt of the letter and said it would work with the committee on its request. Neither Novo nor Lilly immediately responded to requests for comment.

High prescription drug costs have consistently polled as a top voter concern and have been a top priority of the administration of U.S. President Donald Trump, a Republican.

U.S. prescription drug prices are far higher than in other developed nations that either directly or indirectly control medicine costs.

Democratic Representative Elijah Cummings earlier this month wrote to 12 pharmaceutical companies asking for detailed information on their pricing practices, including the makers of insulin.

About 1.2 million Americans have type 1 diabetes, requiring daily insulin. Type 2 diabetes, which affects nearly 30 million Americans, according to the American Diabetes Association, is treated with a variety of other medicines. But those patients may also eventually become dependent on insulin.

(Reporting By Yasmeen Abutaleb; Editing by Bill Berkrot)