Civica Rx announces plans to manufacture and distribute affordable insulin

Co-founded by Providence, Civica to tackle high cost of insulin, continuing to ensure patients and their needs come first.

Civica Rx, a nonprofit generic pharmaceutical company established in 2018 with Providence as one of the founding organizations, has announced plans to manufacture and distribute insulins that, once approved, will be available to people with diabetes at significantly lower prices than insulins currently on the market. The availability of affordable insulins will benefit people with diabetes who have been forced to choose between life-sustaining medicines and living expenses, particularly those uninsured or underinsured who often pay the most out of pocket for their medications.

Civica is collaborating on insulin with partners that represent nearly every corner of the diabetes ecosystem, including Arnold Ventures, Beyond Type 1, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association and 12 independent BCBS companies (Arkansas Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Hawaii, Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Vermont, Blue Cross of Idaho, Blue Shield of California, CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, Florida Blue, Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey, Independence Blue Cross), Gary and Mary West Foundation, Glen E. Tullman Fund, Intermountain Healthcare, JDRF, Kaiser Permanente, Peterson Center on Healthcare, Providence, The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust, Transcarent and Trinity Health. 

“More than 8 million Americans rely on insulin to live, but many can’t afford to take the amount they need because of the historically high and prohibitive cost of insulin,” said Martin VanTrieste, President and CEO of Civica. “We know that to really solve for the insulin cost and access challenges so many Americans face, we need a process – from manufacturing to setting a transparent price – that ultimately lowers the cost of the drug for those living with diabetes. In that spirit, we will ensure patients know where Civica’s low-cost insulin is available.” 

Civica will produce three insulins – glargine, lispro and aspart (biologics corresponding to, and interchangeable with, Lantus, Humalog and Novolog respectively) – each of which will be available both in vials and prefilled pens. Civica will co-develop and manufacture the drug product, complete the clinical trials, and file the necessary applications for FDA approval.

Civica plans to set a recommended price to the consumer of no more than $30 per vial and no more than $55 for a box of five pen cartridges, a significant discount to prices charged to uninsured individuals today.¹ 

“Providence believes that health is a human right, and we’re committed to ensuring everyone has an opportunity to achieve health,” said Providence President and CEO Rod Hochman, MD. “For under- and uninsured people with diabetes, insulin is simply too expensive, which is why we are committed to our work with Civica to ensure we can get affordable prescription drugs to those who need them most.”

Civica plans to sell its insulins at one low, transparent price for all, basing the price on the cost of development, production and distribution. The insulins will be manufactured at Civica’s state-of-the-art 140,000 square-foot manufacturing plant, being built in Petersburg, Virginia.

[1] Based on a publicly available current average list price of glargine (Lantus), lispro (Humalog) and aspart (Novolog) on https://www.goodrx.com/ on February 28, 2022. 

The facility, which will be operational in the first quarter of 2024, will ultimately have the capacity to produce a substantial amount of the insulin needed in the United States, with additional space to increase production if necessary.

Contingent on FDA approval, Civica anticipates that the first insulin (glargine) will be available for purchase as soon as early 2024.

About Civica 

Civica, Inc. (Civica, Civica Rx) is a nonprofit generic pharmaceutical company. Civica was created by hospital systems and philanthropies in 2018 to reduce and prevent chronic drug shortages in hospitals and the unpredictable price spikes that often accompany them. Its mission is to make quality generic medicines accessible and affordable to everyone.

Today Civica is governed by leading hospital systems (CommonSpirit Health, HCA Healthcare, Intermountain Healthcare, Kaiser Permanente, Mayo Clinic, Memorial Hermann, Providence, SSM Health, and Trinity Health), representatives of the payer community (Blue Cross of Idaho and Blue Cross Blue Shield Association), and philanthropies committed to improving healthcare (Gary and Mary West Foundation, Laura and John Arnold Foundation, and Peterson Center on Healthcare). 

Hospital advisors—doctors and pharmacists—prioritize the essential medicines Civica provides for use in acute and critical care, emergency rooms, and surgery.

Civica by the Numbers

• Civica provides approximately 60 generic sterile injectable medicines in various dosage forms to over 55 hospital systems, representing more than 1,500 hospitals and one-third of all licensed hospital beds in the United States (Civica also supplies the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, the U.S. Department of Defense). 
• To date, Civica has provided over 70 million vials or syringes of essential generic medications to hospitals, which have been used to treat more than 28 million patients. 
• Eleven Civica medications have been used to help care for COVID-19 patients, including neuromuscular blocking agents, sedatives, pain management medications, and blood thinners. Civica and its supply partners met surge hospital demand of up to 400 percent for some medications during COVID-19 and provided 2.1 million vials to the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile. 
• Civica is building a 140,000 square-foot sterile injectable manufacturing facility in Petersburg, Virginia. The Civica finished dosage (vials and pre-filled syringes) manufacturing plant will include disposable technology and advanced technology filling lines to produce 90 million vials and 50 million pre-filled syringes a year (enough to meet the demands of approximately 50 million patients a year). The facility, expected to be operational in early 2024, is being built to accommodate future growth as well, and will be the future home of Civica Insulin.
• Learn more at www.civicarx.org.