Washington, D.C. — Following policy pressure from the FTC, others in the Biden administrations, and patient advocates, along with similar actions from peer company Eli Lilly, insulin producer Novo Nordisk today announced they would cut the price of their diabetes treatment up to 75%. In response, the American Economic Liberties Project released the following statement.

“As another pharmaceutical company lines up to cut insulin prices, one thing is clear: these firms are responding to the signals of policymakers and advocates,” said Sara Sirota, Policy Analyst at the American Economic Liberties Project. “These life-saving decisions from Novo-Nordisk and Eli Lilly are in direct response to the Biden administration’s policy pressure on Big Pharma, the Federal Trade Commission’s scrutiny of insulin distribution and middlemen, and the tireless work of patient advocates. The importance of these price cuts on working families shouldn’t be understated, and is why we encourage the administration to expand antitrust efforts to rein in drug costs.”

In June 2022, the Federal Trade Commission issued a unanimous policy statement criticizing pharmaceutical middlemen known as ‘pharmacy benefit managers,’ who take bribes of between 50-70% to keep prices high. By reducing list prices, Eli Lilly is establishing that it will no longer set insulin prices to maximize rebates for PBMs and other middlemen. Other policy levers also influenced this choice. The Inflation Reduction Act capped insulin at $35/month for Medicare recipients and changed rebating practices, and the state of California has begun preparations to produce its own insulin. On March 1, 2023, Eli Lilly, the producer of popular insulin medications Humalog and Humulin, pledged to reduce its insulin list prices by 70%.

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The American Economic Liberties Project works to ensure America’s system of commerce is structured to advance, rather than undermine, economic liberty, fair commerce, and a secure, inclusive democracy. Economic Liberties believes true economic liberty means entrepreneurs and businesses large and small succeed on the merits of their ideas and hard work; commerce empowers consumers, workers, farmers, and engineers instead of subjecting them to discrimination and abuse from financiers and monopolists; foreign trade arrangements support domestic security and democracy; and wealth is broadly distributed to support equitable political power.