Eli Lilly has had a tough time on insulin pricing: It’s long been under fire, like many of its peers, over the high cost of the diabetes therapy, and last year was also hit by a Twitter spoof about making insulin free that saw its stock price tank.
Now, however, the Big Pharma giant is looking to take back control of the narrative with a new campaign called "Tap the Cap," which it launched in partnership with the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and professional baseball player and Type 1 diabetic Adam Duvall.
Back in March, Lilly said it would slash the cost of its most prescribed insulins by 70% while also expanding its Insulin Value Program to cap patient out-of-pocket costs at $35 or less per month.
That move came after facing political pressure to lower prices. Just one month earlier, during the State of the Union speech, President Joe Biden called on Congress to limit insulin costs for all patients to $35 per month. In addition, the Inflation Reduction Act limits insulin costs to $35 per month for Medicare patients.
Now, with ADA and Duvall, Lilly is running a new nationwide effort to “increase awareness of insulin affordability solutions for all people living with diabetes,” according to a press release.
The campaign is designed to show the ease, as Lilly puts it, that people with diabetes can “tap” Lilly's monthly out-of-pocket insulin cap and access that $35 insulin.
As part of the campaign, Lilly said it would also “give back to the diabetes community through contributions to local ADA summer camps,” though it did not share specifics.
Duvall, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2012, will also talk up his story of managing diabetes as a professional athlete.
“I know firsthand the physical and emotional burden that living with diabetes can have,” said Duvall in the release. “The last thing a person should have to worry about is how to get affordable insulin, and that's why I'm glad to be spreading the word with Lilly to make sure people know how easy it is to Tap the Cap.”
There’s also a social media element, with Lilly asking people to share a photo on Instagram or Facebook with the #TaptheCap filter and hashtag #TaptheCap.
Last year, Lilly had a very public reckoning over the issue of insulin costs after a Twitter troll, masquerading as the company under a fake handle, proclaimed that Lilly was making its insulin free.
Lilly issued a rare apology at the time and ultimately pulled its ads from Twitter. Still, the move appears to have galvanized Lilly on the pricing front.
The situation “probably highlights that we have more work to do to bring down the cost of insulin for more people,” multiple outlets quoted Lilly's chief David Ricks as saying in the aftermath of the Twitter fiasco last year.