The state's top officials just announced a landmark initiative to slash insulin prices, beginning on this date.
In a first-of-its-kind move to address the high cost of insulin and improve access for people with diabetes, officials in California announced on October 16 that starting January 1, 2026, CalRx insulin glargine pens will be available to consumers through state-backed contracting. This makes California “the first state in the nation to sell its own brand of generic prescription drugs through its label,” reports the Los Angeles Times.
Gov. Gavin Newsom’s initiative—via a partnership with nonprofit generic drug manufacturer Civica Rx that was first announced in 2023—marks a major step in the state’s efforts to ensure more equitable access to life-saving medications like insulin. Right now, over 3.5 million people living in California—more than 10% of the adult population—have been diagnosed with diabetes, according to the American Diabetes Association. Every year, 231,000 more residents are diagnosed—and many more have diabetes but don’t know it, the organization says. “While not all use insulin, those who do rely on it to survive,” its experts say.
Gov. Newsom’s office says that consumers can expect to cap their pay at just $11 for a single pen of insulin glargine, a long-acting synthetic form of human insulin. “The CalRx insulin glargine pens are interchangeable with Lantus®, ensuring seamless substitution for patients, and will be available to California pharmacies for $45 and to consumers at a suggested retail price of no more than $55 per five-pack of 3 mL pens—a substantial reduction from current retail market prices,” according to the October 16 news release.
“California didn’t wait for the pharmaceutical industry to do the right thing—we took matters into our own hands,” said Gov. Newsom in the news release. “By beginning the process to manufacture our own insulin and pricing it at a maximum cost of $11 a pen in a five-pack, California and Civica are showing the nation what it looks like to put people over profits.”
By comparison, the governor’s office says pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly offers a long-acting insulin product for roughly $313, while competitor Sanofi offers its own version for around $411. But The Associated Press points out that “consumers may pay a different price based on their insurance.”
In a news conference held Thursday, Gov. Newsom also said a new prescription wouldn’t be necessary. “It’s access on the basis of affordability,” he continued.
According to a 2021 article published in the journal The Lancet, 25% of the 7 million patients with insulin prescriptions in the U.S. struggle to meet the life-saving medication’s high cost. “Controversial pricing practices, including price fixing, has led to repeated market failures and continued unnecessary deaths in the USA,” the article says.
The article’s authors also highlighted the “need to focus on the structural racism that complicates insulin access pricing for racially marginalized Americans, who are both more likely to be prescribed insulin and more likely to be from low-income, uninsured, or underinsured populations that are unable to pay for it.”
California’s new partnership aims to serve all individuals who may encounter barriers to treatment access. Said Gov. Newsom in the news release: “No Californian should ever have to ration insulin or go into debt to stay alive—and I won’t stop until health care costs are crushed for everyone.”
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