The Cost of Insulin in the U.S.

The list price of analog insulin has risen 1200% in the U.S. since it was first introduced, without any meaningful change to the formula. Humalog insulin, released in 1996 at $21 a vial, is now $275. A vial of Novolog insulin that was $40 when released in 2001 is $295 today. Similarly, a vial of Lantus insulin was $35 in 2001 and is now a $300. Its competitor, Levemir, has skyrocketed from $60 in 2005 to $300 today. 

In fact, In May 2014, Sanofi and Novo Nordisk each raised their prices for a vial of diabetes medication by 16.1% within a day of each other. Six months later, the companies both raised the medication price by 11.9%. There have been 13 reported instances of such tandem price increases between those two companies since 2009. These prices were raised arbitrarily in the U.S. while the rest of the world's prices remained steady.

All of this is despite the fact that insulin costs between $3-6/vial to produce.

This rising price of insulin has contributed to the rising cost of total diabetes care per diabetic in the U.S., which was 180% higher in 2021 than two decades before.