After years of manufacturing woes torpedoed their chances to challenge Sanofi's blockbuster insulin injection Lantus, Mylan and Biocon recently received the FDA's go-ahead to launch their knockoff. Now, making up for lost time, the partners are pricing copycat Semglee at a price far below their competitors.
Mylan and Biocon will launch Semglee, a copy of Sanofi's insulin injection Lantus, for a wholesale acquisition cost of $147.98 per package of five 3-milliliter pens and $98.65 per 10-milliliter vial, making it the lowest-priced basal insulin on the U.S. market, the partners said Monday.
The Semglee pen starting wholesale price is the same as Lantus' launch price from 2007, Mylan said, and the vial is listed at Lantus's 2010 pricing.
The FDA approved Semglee in April to hit the U.S. market after years of manufacturing concerns at Biocon's Malaysian manufacturing facility. The partners are seeking the FDA's biosimilar approval for Semglee, allowing it to market as interchangeable with Lantus.
RELATED: Biocon insulin operation gets FDA nod, paving way for approval of Lantus knockoff