In 2021, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first interchangeable biosimilar insulin product that could be substituted for insulin glargine (long-acting insulin). Interchangeable biosimilars have the potential to substantially reduce spending on biological products, similar to generic versions of small-molecule brand name medications. However, when deductibles were reset at the beginning of 2022, the list price of the insulin biosimilar was only 5% less than the brand name insulin. In the Perspective article “A Radical Treatment for Insulin Pricing,” Partner Leemore Dafny opines that a regulatory or disruptive business fix is needed to address such costs and suggests that such a fix could better derive from the private than from the public sector.
Read the article here (subscription required).
