California takes another step forward in its insulin production with $50M investment

The state of California announced last year that it was going to make inroads in producing its own insulin and lowering the price, and another step forward in that plan has been taken.

Over the weekend, the California governor’s office announced that the state has secured a contract with the manufacturer Civica to make the state’s affordable insulin. According to a release from Civica, it plans to produce biosimilar versions of both long and short-term insulins. Specifically, Civica will make the products glargine, lispro and aspart which are expected to be interchangeable with Lantus, Humalog and NovoLog, respectively.

Ned McCoy

The Golden State will be placing an investment of $50 million for the manufacturing and eventual distribution of the products. The products will be available in both pens and vials under the CalRx label. The products will have a retail price of no more than $30 per a 10 ml vial and no more than $55 for a box of five 3 ml prefilled pens.

The $50 million in funding is designed to contribute to the costs of bringing the insulins to market. The funding is also adding to cash that has been raised via philanthropy, said Civica CEO Ned McCoy in an email to Endpoints News.

According to Governor Gavin Newsom’s office, patients in California will be able to get the insulins at a local pharmacy or through mail-order pharmacies, and pharmacies must agree to order and stock the product.

“Many Californians ration their insulin because they can’t afford it and that can have dire health consequences. It does not have to be this way,” said Newsom.

For now, the physical production of the insulins will be taking place on the opposite coast at Civica’s 140,000-square-foot manufacturing facility in Petersburg, VA. However, Newsom’s office stated that Civica is working with the California Health and Human Services Agency to find a production facility in California, but no details on that move have been revealed. Civica will start the test runs of the insulin this year, with plans to submit its FDA filings in 2024, McCoy said.

Newsom, on the other hand, is also looking at other possible manufacturing ventures for California, citing the issue of naloxone.

The investment comes as three major insulin makers, including Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, have all agreed to slash the out-of-pocket price of their insulin products.

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