Novo Nordisk decided to discontinue its long-acting insulin Levemir last November, and three Democrats in the Senate want to know why, laying out their questions in a letter to leaders of the company on Tuesday.
Sens. Jeanne Shaheen (D-NH), Elizabeth Warren (D-MA) and Raphael Warnock (D-GA) sought more information on supply constraints and whether Novo would consider producing Levemir until biosimilars are available. They gave Novo until May 1 to respond to the questions.
Novo declined to comment on the letter.
In November 2023, Novo announced it would discontinue Levemir in the US in 2024 amid supply disruptions and as the company faces price negotiations with CMS for its other insulins. It also said at the time that it would cut the prices of many of its insulin products, including Levemir by 65%, in January 2024. But the Danish drugmaker said the Levemir FlexPen would be discontinued on April 1, while the Levemir vial will be discontinued at the end of 2024.
“After careful consideration, we made this decision because of global manufacturing issues, decreasing patient coverage, and because we are confident that patients in the US will be able to find alternative treatments,” Novo said last year.
In their letter to Novo, the senators explain how Levemir is the only insulin FDA-approved for use during pregnancy and that “access to affordable, in-demand biosimilar insulins will be further restricted by Novo Nordisk’s decision to discontinue Levemir.”
“With this in mind, we are alarmed by Novo Nordisk’s decision to discontinue Levemir before allowing the price reduction to go into effect, and are concerned that Novo Nordisk failed to take into consideration patient access to affordable, long-acting insulin substitutes prior to the discontinuation,” the senators wrote.