Minnesota attorney general Keith Ellison is steadily stacking up settlement deals with top insulin makers, this time pushing Sanofi to provide its insulin to Minnesotans for a monthly price of $35.
The settlement puts to rest a 2018 lawsuit that claimed Sanofi “deceptively priced” its insulin products, in turn requiring Minnesotans to pay “astronomically high out-of-pocket costs,” the AG said in a press release.
Now, for a 5-year period, the company will sell its insulin brands and their biosimilar counterparts for $35 to customers who pay with cash or opt not to use their insurance. The deal (PDF) will set in within 90 days from July 19 and will require customers to enroll for a savings card on a Sanofi affordability website to confirm eligibility.
Sanofi will also continue its patient connection program, which offers free insulin to patients in the state who have an annual household income of less than or equal to 400% of the federal poverty level.
“With this settlement, Minnesotans can get the insulin they need at prices they can afford, and they can now choose between manufacturers and low-cost insulin products,” Attorney General Keith Ellison said in the release. “I will continue to do everything in my power to lower the cost of prescription drugs. Nobody in Minnesota should be denied medicine they need to survive because of its price.”
The original 2018 complaint targeted all three major insulin makers in Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk, accusing them of raising prices so high that they were not an “accurate approximation of the true cost of insulin.” At the time, a five-pack of Sanofi’s Apidra injection pen was over $625, according to Ellison.
Eli Lilly was the first to settle earlier this year with a promise to provide discounted and free insulin. The state’s litigation against Novo Nordisk is still ongoing.
“Sanofi believes that no one should struggle to pay for their insulin, regardless of their insurance status or income level, which is why we have a suite of innovative and patient-centric savings programs to help people reduce their prescription medicine costs,” a company spokesperson said in an emailed statement, pointing to the drugmaker’s $35 monthly cap on insulin for uninsured patients and its price cuts on popular insulin products.
"We are pleased to have reached an agreement with the Minnesota Attorney General’s Office, which includes promoting increased awareness of how patients can save," the company's spokesperson added.
Last year, Sanofi, Lilly and Novo each announced nationwide insulin price cuts after years of increasing pressure. Lilly slashed the price of its most prescribed products by 70%, while Novo marked down its NovoLog by 75% and its Novolin and Levemir by 65%. Sanofi followed suit by slicing the price of its Lantus by 78%.