RE: H.R.5623 - The Insulin Cost Reduction Act
Dear Madam Kamala Harris:
Thank you for your words of kindness in accepting my dedication to you for my book, The Future of Pharmaceuticals--A Nonlinear View.
As the House approved the H.R.5623 - The Insulin Cost Reduction Act to cap patients' out-of-pocket costs at $35 a month for their insulin, it has to go through the Senate. To educate the senators, know that monthly supplies of insulin currently average around $375-1,000 to two million Americans. In addition, insulin is presently sold at 31 cents per unit[1], while the production cost is less than a penny. Therefore, the House Bill fixing a ceiling price of $35 per month is well justified[2] and practical[3]. How can any senator not vote for it; I have educated all senators individually also.
We should revisit our previous discussion to bring a legislative change to allow the CMS to negotiate prices. Medicare could have saved more than $16.7 billion from 2011 to 2017 on insulin purchases had it been allowed to negotiate the pricing. Moreover, these savings should extend to all biological drugs; the cost of producing every monoclonal antibody is less than $100 per gram[4] , and these sell at thousands to hundreds of thousand dollars per gram. I have met with the CMS and submitted a bill draft to provide CMS with more authority.
Thank you for your leadership and understanding that access to life-saving drugs is a right, not a privilege.Thank you for your leadership and understanding that access to life-saving drugs is a right, not a privilege.
Sincerely yours,
Sarfaraz K. Niazi, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences
College of Pharmacy, University of Illinois, Chicago, IL
[1] https://www.goodrx.com/healthcare-access/research/how-much-does-insulin-cost-compare-brands
[2] https://crsreports.congress.gov/product/pdf/IF/IF11026
[3] www.civicarx.org
[4] https://www.researchgate.net/publication/284086808_Cost_evaluation_of_antibody_production_processes_in_different_operation_modes