Civica Rx to manufacture and distribute affordable insulin

USA-based Civica Rx, the non-profit generic drugmaker set up by hospital systems in 2018 to help counter rising prices and supply shortages, has announced plans to manufacture and distribute insulins that, once approved, will be available to people with diabetes at significantly lower prices than insulins currently on the market.

The availability of affordable insulins will benefit people with diabetes who have been forced to choose between life sustaining medicines and living expenses, particularly those uninsured or underinsured who often pay the most out of pocket for their medications.

Civica will produce three insulins – glargine, lispro and aspart (biologics corresponding to, and interchangeable with, Sanofi’s (Euronext: SAN) Lantus, Eli Lily’s (NYSE: LLY) Humalog and Novo Nordisk’s (NOV: N) Novolog respectively) – each of which will be available both in vials and prefilled pens. Civica will co-develop and manufacture the drug product, complete the clinical trials, and file the necessary applications for Food and Drug Administration approval.