Demand for GLP-1 medicines from Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk has exploded across the globe, resulting in on-and-off shortages in the U.S. and beyond. But high prices on the products make them even more inaccessible in some countries, according to a new report.
A study published Wednesday by Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) in the Journal of the American Medical Association Network Open found that the popular medicines are largely unavailable in low- and middle-income countries.
In countries where the products are sold, they carry high prices that limit access, according to a release from MSF.
MSF says GLP-1 drugs for diabetes cost $95 per month in Brazil, $115 monthly in South Africa, $230 in Latvia and $353 in the U.S. But if the branded companies were to partner with generics makers to boost access, the prices could be less than $1 per month, according to the study.
Of course, Lilly and Novo’s respective patents on their drugs have not yet let up, meaning generics to the meds are still a no-go.
MSF argues that the companies have not done their part to drive down global prices, as neither GLP-1 drug maker has announced prices for low- and middle-income countries. The companies haven't licensed out the drugs to generic makers to help meet skyrocketing global demand, either, MSF notes.
“These new drugs are an absolute gamechanger for people living with diabetes, but are being kept out of the hands of hundreds of millions of people in low- and middle-income countries who need them,” pharmacist coordinator at MSF’s access campaign, Christa Cepuch, said in a press release.
GLP-1s are expected to be this year’s best-selling drug class, taking the top spot from PD-1 inhibitors, analytics firm GlobalData has projected. Annual sales are forecast to pass $100 billion by 2029.
Novo is “unaware of the analysis used in this study” but “always recognized the need for continuous evaluation of innovation and affordability levers to support greater access of our products,” a spokesperson told Fierce Pharma over email.
Lilly, for its part, pointed to its Lilly 30x30 initiative and other global access programs in an emailed statement. Lilly 30x30 aims to improve access to “quality health care” for 30 million people living in “resource-limited settings” annually by 2030.
“In 2023, Lilly and our affiliates provided $4.3 billion in medicines to charitable organizations that offer medicines for free to qualifying patients around the world,” a company spokesperson noted.
The costing study caught the attention of Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt), chairman of the Senate’s Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee. In a statement, the senator called on Novo to lower the U.S. list price of its Ozempic and Wegovy to its price in Canada of $155 a month.
“Ozempic has the potential to be a game changer in the diabetes and obesity epidemics in America,” Sanders said. “But, if we do not substantially reduce the price of this drug, millions who need it will be unable to afford it.”
Meanwhile, only half of people around the globe who need insulin have access to it, MSF reported, making for a larger problem outside of just GLP-1 access.
Newer diabetes meds such as insulin pen injection devices, a popular option for patients who don’t want to use multiple syringes a day for injections, also face price and access hurdles, according to the group.
MSF found that one prefilled human insulin pen could be sold at an estimated generic price of $0.94, compared to the current $90.69 in the U.S. or $5.77 in India.