After slashing the U.S. prices of several of its insulin products by 75% at the start of 2024, Novo Nordisk is ending the year by announcing similar price reductions for most of its other insulins for patients who have diabetes.
Novo will drop its U.S. list price for its Fiasp by 75% and for Tresiba by 72%, the Danish company said in a release. The new prices will go into effect on January 1, 2026. Rapid-acting Fiasp (insulin aspart) is for patients to take at mealtime, while long-acting Tresiba (insulin deguldec) is injected daily.
The price reduction for Fiasp matches the 75% cut in the U.S. list price of NovoLog, which took effect on January 1 of this year. Fiasp is an advanced version of NovoLog (insulin aspart), which also is injected at mealtime. Fiasp is the same formulation with vitamin B3 and an amino acid added to increase the speed of absorption and stabilize the treatment.
As an example of the reduction, the monthly U.S. list price for Fiasp FlexTouch, which is a pre-filled, disposable pen, will fall from $559 to $140. For Tresiba’s U-100 FlexTouch, the monthly price will be sliced from $508 to $141.
“Novo Nordisk is making healthcare professionals, wholesalers and payers aware of the discontinuations more than 12 months in advance, so they can enable smooth transitions to other options,” the company said in its release.
Related to the price cuts, Novo added that it will discontinue selling unbranded biologic versions of several of its insulin products by the end of 2025.
The reductions come simultaneously to new prices Medicare will pay for Novo’s insulin products beginning in 2026 as mandated by the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA).
Like most other companies that had drugs on the list of 10 that are subject to early price negotiations, Novo brought a lawsuit challenging the constitutionality of the measure. Four months ago, a New Jersey judge rejected the case, with Novo saying it would appeal.
In early 2023, shortly after Eli Lilly slashed the price of its insulin in the U.S. by 70%, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi quickly followed suit. The reductions came after President Joe Biden—during his State of the Union address—called on Congress to limit out-of-pocket insulin costs for all patients at $35 per month, matching the price Medicare patients pay as already mandated by the IRA.
The government push to reduce the cost of insulin came after reports of people in the U.S. rationing insulin. A study in the Annals of Internal Medicine found that in 2021, nearly 1 in 5 U.S. adults either skipped, delayed or used less insulin to save money.
Meanwhile, Novo is working to gain FDA approval for a once-weekly version of its insulin, Awiqli (insulin icodec). In July, the agency rejected the treatment because of a manufacturing issue. Awiqli has been approved for Type 1 and Type 2 diabetes in Europe, Canada, Japan and Australia. It also has been endorsed in China for Type 2 diabetes.