Senators want to know more on why Novo is discontinuing its insulin Levemir
March 14 (Reuters) - Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) said on Tuesday it would cut U.S. list prices for several insulin products by up to 75% next year, joining rival Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N) as political pressure mounts to make these life-sustaining diabetes treatments more affordable.
Novo's Biologic Levemir Innolet (Insulin Detemir) Receives Approval in the U.S.
Novo Nordisk Issues Voluntary Nationwide Recall of Levemir®
Shareholders in Novo Nordisk accused the diabetes drugmaker of misleading investors about its insulin drug sales in the U.S., filing a securities lawsuit in Danish court that demands roughly $1.75 billion.
Novo Nordisk will file its oral formulation of diabetes drug semaglutide in the US within the next two months, and will spend a priority review voucher to shorten the time to a decision.
Novo Nordisk saw revenues drop 4% in the second quarter as the diabetes segment stumbled, but reported solid performance for some of its key brands.
Celgene increased the prices of two blockbuster cancer meds Revlimid and Pomalyst by 5% this month, according to SunTrust analysts. Roche raised the price of breast cancer drug Herceptin by 3%, and Avastin by 2.5%, Bloomberg reports. Novo Nordisk’s Tresiba, Levemir, Fiasp and NovoLog saw their prices up by 5%, while GLP-1 inhibitors Victoza’s and Ozempic’s jumped 7.9% in the same period, the diabetes specialist unveiled Wednesday.
Roche, Novo Nordisk, Novartis reduce or cancel some increases. In the past three weeks, Novartis AG, Gilead Sciences Inc., Roche Holding AG and Novo Nordisk A/S sent notices to California health plans rescinding or reducing previously announced price hikes on at least 10 drugs.
Competition in the basal insulin market has been fierce, and not only because a biosimilar version of Lantus is working to steal share. Novo Nordisk and Sanofi each have longer-acting products jockeying for sales, too.