Santa Monica-based prescription drug discount and comparison pricing service GoodRx Holdings Inc. announced that it is sharply discounting an insulin drug effective immediately for all customers with prescriptions for the diabetes-fighting drug, regardless of their insurance status.
GoodRx announced on Oct. 19 that it is partnering with Paris-based pharma giant Sanofi to provide a 30-day supply of Sanofi’s widely prescribed insulin drug Lantus at a discounted cost of $35. Lantus is a injectible form of insulin.
Sanofi announced in May that it would lower the price of a 30-day supply of Lantus about 78% to $35 effective Jan. 1 for people with commercial health care insurance. Last year, Sanofi announced a $35 cap on Lantus for people without any form of insurance.Â
Currently, an estimated 37 million Americans (approximately 11% of the U.S. population) have diabetes, and roughly 8.4 million of them use insulin, according to the American Diabetes Association.
GoodRx’ partnership with Sanofi offers a ready-made channel to implement the new $35 price level for Lantus at 70,000 participating pharmacies nationwide.Â
It also fills in a time gap, making the discounts applicable this year for patients with insurance who have had to wait until January.
“Efforts to make insulin more accessible have been at the forefront of the news for months, and a critical piece of delivering on this promise is making it as simple as possible for patients to get the lower price right at their regular pharmacy counter,” Dorothy Gemmell, chief commercial officer for GoodRx, said in the announcement.
This represents one of the more high-profile applications of GoodRx’ Pharma Manufacturer Solutions business line. GoodRx has worked with 19 of the top 20 pharmaceutical manufacturers to deliver savings options directly to relevant groups of patients. Besides the actual discount prices, GoodRx offers its customers drug information directly from the manufacturer.