Sanders unveils bill to cap insulin price at $20 per vial
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U.S. Senator Bernie Sanders (I-Vermont) announced on Thursday legislation that would limit the list price of insulin at no more than $20 per vial, marking the former presidential hopeful's latest effort to keep drug prices in check.
The move comes days after Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) said that the company would cut prices for Humalog and other insulins brands by 70% and announced an expanded program to limit out-of-pocket costs for insulin at $35 or less for some consumers.
Introducing the bill "Insulin for All" with Representative Cori Bush (D-MO), Sanders said: "In 1923, the inventors of insulin sold their patents for $1 to save lives, not to turn pharma executives into billionaires."
The bill will "put an end to corporate greed," Sanders, who also serves as the chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, added.
"We can no longer tolerate a rigged health care system that forced 1.3 million people with diabetes to ration insulin while the three major insulin manufacturers made $21 billion dollars in profits."
Notable insulin manufacturers: Eli Lilly (LLY), Sanofi (NASDAQ:SNY), and Novo Nordisk (NVO)
In recent weeks, Sanders has stepped up his rhetoric against drugmakers. In February, he announced that Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel would testify before the HELP committee on Mar. 222 in the wake of the biotech's plan to quadruple its COVID-19 vaccine price.
Read: Seeking Alpha contributor Marcel Knoop issued a Hold rating on Novo (NVO) in February, noting that the Danish drugmaker is the "only pure-play in the diabetes and obesity care space."