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December 7, 2021
From Dr. Elliott:
One week ago BC Pharmacare announced coverage of two biosimilar rapid insulins, considered by BCDiabetes to be functionally & clinically identical to the original branded insulins, both manufactured by Sanofi. See the link above for the fineprint dates of coverage etc.
insulin lispro “Admelog”, available in vials, cartridges & disposable pens
original brand = “Humalog”insulin aspart “Trurapi”, available only in cartridges & disposable pens
original brand = “NovoRapid”.
Both Admelog & Trurapi come as U100 only. There will be no U200 Pharmacare-covered rapid.
Admelog & Trurapi are roughly 20% cheaper than Humalog & NovoRapid. Admelog & Trurapi are also cheaper than insulin regular (“Toronto” =Humulin R & Novolin R). Thus there is no longer a price reason to prescribe insulin regular over rapid insulin.
Below are the wholesale prices (McKesson) for Admelog & Trurapi (in retail pharmacies such as Costco & Naz’s the price will be similar, & higher in other pharmacies) and prices for other insulins from the PAD 2019 pricelist.
| Admelog (lispro) 10 ml vial | $24.00 (2.4 cents per unit) |
| Humalog (lispro) 10 ml vial | $30.00 (3.0 cents per unit) |
| NovoRapid (aspart) 10 ml vial | $30.00 (3.0 cents per unit) |
| Humulin R (insulin regular) 10 ml vial | $25.00 (2.5 cents per unit) |
| Admelog (lispro) & Trurapi (aspart) 5 cartridges/pens 15 ml | $48.00 (3.1 cents per unit) |
| Humalog (lispro) 5 cartridges/pens 15 ml | $58.00 (3.9 cents per unit) |
| NovoRapid (aspart) 5 cartridges/pens 15 ml | $70.00 (4.6 cents per unit) |
BCDiabetes’ default rapid insulin henceforward = insulin lispro U100 (“Admelog”) simply because it comes in vials and cartridges: vials are important for those using insulin pumps. Rapid insulin starts to qualify for CGM Special Authority should now be with insulin lispro. When writing the prescription, in the comment field, we’ll record the following: “dispense Admelog brand unless Humalog requested specifically by client”.