U.S. insurers squeeze diabetes drug prices : Eli Lilly
By Caroline Humer and Deena Beasley SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - Eli Lilly and Co said on Monday that U.S. insurers are increasing pressure on the price of diabetes medications as they switch coverage from certain drugs to others to trim costs. At the same time, Lilly's financial chief believes its products produce better results for patients and will help the company, which is one of the largest diabetes drugmakers, withstand the pressure. The comments come after Lilly competitor Sanofi SA warned in October that U.S. pricing pressure on its Lantus diabetes medication would hurt 2015 results. "We've definitely seen increased price competition, more by payers than the companies themselves," Lilly Chief Financial Officer Derica Rice said on Monday in an interview at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco. "As we go into our discussions with payers ... we think there should be more than one insulin" on insurer coverage lists, Rice said. "We do not anticipate competing on price." Drug pricing became a public issue for pharmaceutical companies after insurers and state Medicaid agencies pushed back last year against the $84,000 price for Gilead Sciences Inc's breakthrough hepatitis C drug. After a year of public wrangling with payers, the nation's largest pharmacy benefit manager, Express Scripts Inc, dropped the Gilead medication from its biggest drug coverage plan for a competing treatment from AbbVie Inc that had just won U.S. approval. Rice said Lilly has focused on setting ambitious goals in clinical trials for new diabetes drugs to prove their superiority over rivals, and by building a broad portfolio of different diabetes treatments. Lilly competes against Sanofi SA, Merck and Co Inc and Novo Nordisk A/S in the diabetes treatment market. In 2014, it received approval for two new treatments, Jardiance and Trulicity. It has clinical trials underway for other diabetes treatments, and to see if Jardiance also has a cardiovascular benefit. Last week, the company gave its 2015 outlook, which was below analyst expectations. (Reporting by Caroline Humer and Deena Beasley in San Francisco. Editing by Andre Grenon)
