We need to work on bringing these costs down, so more companies can actually compete. Government regulation schemes will only reduce the amount of companies willing to go through the process and give us less choice in the end.
There is a definite problem in the US with drug pricing, and middlemen gauging the market, but it’s a straw man to claim new insulin products don’t bring any change. If you ask the patients there’s a world of difference between the cheap genetics and the main brand products, which is why they want the newer products and not the generics. But of cause patients also want the newer products at the same price as the generics which will never happen, even if the government fixes the drug pricing market.
The expensive, newer, patent-covered formulations like Lantus are what are prescribed over here in the UK - lucky that the NHS shields us from the ridiculous prices!
I purchased a car from a manufacturer, the base price was 20,000. Now the same model car has the base price 25,000. Sure, they added side impact airbags, backup cameras and lane assist but why can't I buy it for 20,000?
If you and others who think like you dislike the current system and want to improve everyone's quality of life, you are quite welcome to invest the time and capital to start a drug research lab, invent new and novel medicine, patent it, get it FDA approved then license it to anyone who wants to make and sell it.
Volvo was committed to the idea of safety that when they developed a seatbelt system they did just that.
The idea of taking someone's work with out paying them fair compensation is akin to slavery. The only difference it that slavery is forcing someone to do something and this is promising someone compensation then withholding it.
Now, if we believe that this new formulation is so revolutionary and would be such a great benefit then why not just buy the patent from the maker? Put together a company, raise the funds. Anything can be bought and sold. The only question is price. Trying to force the government to use a version of eminent domain by lying about the situation to the public to spark outrage is scummy.
The main problem is the $25 insulin is R and not fast-acting. It's not the difference between generic and name-brand, it's about using an insulin that takes over twice as long to be absorbed by your body.
You can’t have it both ways. Cheap alternatives are available. But yes newer main brand products are better in tons of ways, which is not surprising as they are culmination of decades of research. You can’t both claim there are no differences and than want those differences in the cheaper generics.
It is this additional regulation that should be subject to scrutiny, since the price of humalog has continued to rise, even after its patent expired. A vial of humalog costs~$5-10 to manufacture, while its list price is nearly $300 and rising quickly. I’m guessing because pharmas want to milk their golden cow while these regulations are still in place. We could drop the price of Humalog 90% within a matter of days by simply cutting regulation against import, as it is already being manufactured safely abroad.
By the way, when Humalog was under patent, on day one, the list price was something like $30 per vial.
Using cheaper alternatives is also strongly correlated with worse outcomes, including amputations and death.
In a word, yes, it literally is exactly as unconscionable and greedy as it looks on the tin.
It’s a wired definition of milking a product to lower your take home year after year. The PBMs have rebates close to 70% they are literally making more on the drugs than both the companies producing them and the companies providing them through insurance. List prices are high because the people who own the consumer side of the market don’t care how high the prices go as long as they can set up rebates that increase their own profits.