Sanofi recently announced that it will spend €1.3 billion ($1.4 billion) over the next five years to build a new insulin production facility at its BioCampus in Frankfurt Höchst, Germany. The 36,000 m2 (equivalent to nearly 388,000 ft2) facility will replace existing insulin production plants. Paris-based Sanofi says several hundred highly qualified specialists will work…
California partners with manufacturer to make affordable generic insulin
The state of California has established a $50 million collaboration over a decade with the generic drug manufacturer Civica. The goal of the collaboration is to create affordable state-branded generic insulin. Qualified individuals may obtain a 10-mL vial of generic insulin for $30 or less. California plans to provide a pack containing five prefilled 3…
Lilly stock dips after fake Twitter profile makes bogus insulin announcement
Eli Lilly‘s (NYSE:LLY) share price dropped about 4% Friday to $352.36 after a fake Twitter account claimed the company would make insulin available at no cost. “We are excited to announce insulin is free now,” read the fake announcement from @EliLillyandCo, which received more than 1,500 retweets and 10,000 likes before Twitter removed the bogus…
Novo Nordisk settles Danish securities lawsuit
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) has settled a securities lawsuit in Denmark filed in August 2019 in the district court of Glostrup. In 2019, Novo Nordisk vowed to fight the allegations contained in the lawsuit, which alleged that the company’s insulin-related profits fell at the same time prices and sales increased from February 2015 and February 2017. The…
California aims to produce inexpensive insulin
California Governor Gavin Newsom has signaled that the state would pursue manufacturing insulin to offer the hormone at a reduced cost to people with diabetes. “Insulin should not drain your bank account,” Newsom shared over Twitter. Newsom has also made contract manufactured insulin part of the proposed budget planning for the fiscal year 2022. The…
MannKind enrolls first patient in Afrezza study focusing on children
Rapid-acting insulin specialist MannKind Corp. (NSDQ:MNKD) has enrolled the first pediatric patient in its INHALE-1 study evaluating its Afrezza (Technosphere Insulin) with basal insulin versus multiple daily injections of insulin. The study will enroll participants aged four to 17 with type 1 or type 2 diabetes. Afrezza first won FDA approval in 2014, and MannKind…
Lilly cuts price of Lispro insulin by 40%
Starting January 1, 2021, Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE:LLY) will reduce the list price of Insulin Lispro Injection in the U.S. to match 2008 levels. The 40% price cut will also extend to the company’s non-branded insulins. Still, the company acknowledged that people with fixed insurance co-pays or beneficiaries of Lilly’s affordability programs might not…
Novo Nordisk settles U.S. securities class action suit
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) has agreed in principle to settle securities class action litigation in the Federal District Court of New Jersey. The Bagsværd, Denmark–based company would pay $100 million in the settlement. That amount includes plaintiffs’ attorneys’ fees, expenses and settlement costs. The lawsuit alleged that the company made misleading statements regarding the price of its…
Nominations open for the Leonard Award celebrating 100 years of insulin
Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) is looking for nominations for its inaugural Leonard Award series, which highlights advances in diabetes management. The company will select five winners and donate $100,00 to the non-profit Life for a Child, which provides medicines and supplies to children and youth with type 1 diabetes in developing countries. Lilly is launching the award program…
Walmart teams up with Novo Nordisk to launch private-brand analog insulin
Walmart (NYSE:WMT) is launching what it describes as the first private label analog insulin. The company estimates the insulin products will save customers between 58% and 70% of the cost of branded insulin. Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) will manufacture the analog insulin, which is a type of lab-grown insulin genetically engineered to optimize glucose control. The…