Levemir Discontinued - Novo Nordisk Grilled

[somarco]

Three U.S. Senators say they are "alarmed" Novo Nordisk discontinued U.S. sales of a popular insulin brand and are demanding answers from the pharmaceutical giant they say left patients without an affordable substitute.

Senators demand answers from drugmaker about discontinuation of popular insulin Levemir

Three Senate Democrats are demanding answers from Novo Nordisk over its decision to discontinue Levemir, which is FDA-approved for pregnancy.

www.usatoday.com

What impact, if any, will this have on Novo Nordisk, or other manufacturers that decide to orphan a drug? And will NN continue to manufacture the drug (same/different brand name) and only distribute it outside the US?

 

[sman]

Three U.S. Senators say they are "alarmed" Novo Nordisk discontinued U.S. sales of a popular insulin brand and are demanding answers from the pharmaceutical giant they say left patients without an affordable substitute.

Senators demand answers from drugmaker about discontinuation of popular insulin Levemir

Three Senate Democrats are demanding answers from Novo Nordisk over its decision to discontinue Levemir, which is FDA-approved for pregnancy.

www.usatoday.com

What impact, if any, will this have on Novo Nordisk, or other manufacturers that decide to orphan a drug? And will NN continue to manufacture the drug (same/different brand name) and only distribute it outside the US?

Talked to a client a couple of weeks ago who has been taking Levemir. Due to this, he said the doctor was switching him to Toujeo

 

[somarco]

Talked to a client a couple of weeks ago who has been taking Levemir. Due to this, he said the doctor was switching him to Toujeo

Both meds are tier 3 on some of the PDP's and "limited" to the $35 insulin copay at this time.

There are other meds that are similar to Levemir but the underlying question on these $35 meds is how long will they remain on the formulary once the $2,000 OOP cap kicks in next year?

 

[sman]

Both meds are tier 3 on some of the PDP's and "limited" to the $35 insulin copay at this time.

There are other meds that are similar to Levemir but the underlying question on these $35 meds is how long will they remain on the formulary once the $2,000 OOP cap kicks in next year?

Yep, that's the $64,000 question. We'll know more by October 1st.