The Leona M. and Harry B. Helmsley Charitable Trust has announced it is partnering with Civica, Inc. and other leading nonprofit and philanthropic organizations to help reduce the cost of insulin, particularly for people with Type 1 diabetes (T1D) who are uninsured or underinsured.

To that end, the partners have committed $5 million to develop, produce, and distribute insulin products at significantly lower prices than what is currently on the market. T1D is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the pancreas produces little or no insulin. More than 20 million people worldwide are affected by this disease and rely on multiple doses of insulin per day to survive.

Established in 2018, Civica, Inc. is a nonprofit pharmaceutical company that aims to reduce and prevent chronic drug shortages in hospitals and the related price spikes that often accompany shortages. Using a transparent pricing model, Civica intends to create generic medications that and minimize out-of-pocket expenses, particularly benefiting uninsured and underinsured Americans.

The insulin products—glargine, lispro, and aspart—will be manufactured at Civica’s state-of-the-art 140,000 square-foot manufacturing plant being built in Petersburg, Virginia, using drug substances produced in partnership with GeneSys Biologics. The facility, which is expected to be operational in early 2024, will have the capacity to produce a substantial amount of the insulin needed in the United States, with additional space to increase production if necessary. 

“Bold philanthropic partners have made it possible, with committed funds to date of over two-thirds of our $125 million goal, for us to undertake this affordable insulin initiative,” said Civica Foundation executive director Ken Boyden. “We are incredibly grateful for their leadership. They each have a passion for and commitment to building pathways to reliable drug access and affordability.”

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