Ricks: Insurers initially refused to cover Eli Lilly's discounted generic insulin
Dave Ricks · Dave Ricks, CEO of Eli Lilly, on GLP-1s and the business of pharma · Nov 11, 2025 · at 44:56
Eli Lilly CEO Dave Ricks describes how pharmacy middlemen and health insurers initially shunned Lilly's low-list-price authorized generic insulin because it undermined PBM rebate margins.
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“In the first year, no formularies covered this. So it was really only for that cash payer. No insurance company picked it up, even though it was dramatically cheaper. Now it's about half of the volume, but still half not because that model of this margin spread model is still there.”
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