Gov. Newsom visits Downey, announces plans to reduce insulin price, manufacture naloxone
California Governor Gavin Newsom visited Downey on Saturday and announced a partnership with a pharmaceutical company intended to provide insulin to Californians at a dramatically lower cost.
Newsom announced a partnership with Civica Rx to provide insulin to Californians for $30 for 10 milliliters -- which he said was as little as one-tenth of the current cost.
Newsom visited a Kaiser warehouse in Downey as part of his ongoing tour of the state discussing his administrative policies in lieu of a traditional State of the State address.
He praised the 10-year partnership as a way to lower the health-care burden for residents without "subsidizing costs or socializing costs" but to address the "underlying" costs.
The program, to be administered through CalRx, was characterized by the governor as "market disruption," which he hoped would prompt major drug companies to lower their prices for the drug.
Newsom said manufacturing is set to begin later this year, and added that he anticipates "favorable treatment" from the FDA, and hopes to see delivery begin next year.
Also announced Saturday was a deal that would allow California to manufacture its own lower-cost Naloxone, or Narcan, the drug that reverses the effect of an opioid overdose and is credited with saving hundreds of thousands of lives.
Newsom said "next up is meloxil."
The governor began his tour Thursday in Sacramento, where he discussed plans to build 1,200 small homes across the state to address homelessness, followed by an address Friday centered on a plan to overhaul San Quentin State Prison.
Newsom's tour will continue Sunday in San Diego with an event focusing on mental health care.
