Eli Lilly is scaling back its insulin footprint in Europe, with plans to discontinue a swathe of products for “commercial reasons”, while increasingly leaning on its high-growth GLP-1 portfolio, reports Fierce Pharma.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced last week that the company is removing several of its insulin presentations, including short- and rapid-acting, mixed-acting and long-acting iterations containing human insulin, insulin lispro and insulin glargine.
While the discontinuations are all expected to happen in the first half of 2027, the specific products and withdrawal timelines differ across countries.
The retreat, which includes versions of Humalog and Abasaglar, was described by the EMA as a supply shortage, but it noted that Lilly has “decided to stop marketing some of its insulin medicines for commercial reasons” and not due to a safety or quality issue.
Specifically, Lilly is removing its Humalog Mix25 (a mix of 25% insulin lispro and 75% insulin lispro protamine) across all of the European countries in which it’s currently marketed.
Several other insulin products in multiple administration will be discontinued, which include short-and rapid-acting Lyumjev in different dose strengths, Humulin S (human insulin), Humalog, Liprolog, intermediate-acting Humulin I, mixed-acting Humalog Mix50 and Humulin M3, plus long-acting Abasaglar (known as Basaglar in the US).
The decision came after “careful consideration and a thorough market assessment”, the company said in the shortage communication sent to healthcare professionals across European member states.
Humalog reached the US market in 1996 as the world’s first rapid-acting insulin analogue. Since then, the “Humalog family” has grown to include multiple different treatment options.
More recently, as Lilly’s diabetes drug portfolio has been dominated by newer blockbusters such as its GLP-1 Mounjaro and Boehringer Ingelheim-partnered Jardiance, the company did not report specific Humalog sales in 2025. In 2024, Humalog saw a 40% year-over-year revenue decline to $2.3m.
The drug has been the subject of pricing controversy, with a years-long lawsuit slamming Lilly and fellow insulin makers Sanofi and Novo Nordisk for an “insidious” pricing war that caused steep price hikes. Lilly moved to resolve the nationwide class action with a $13.5m settlement, but the deal was called off in 2024.
The company ultimately slashed its insulin prices by 70% in 2023 and continues the push to bring down its insulin prices with a recently effective 70% price cut for other versions of its insulins.
Still, Lilly hasn’t yet escaped the pricing concerns, with the state of Indiana filing a January lawsuit accusing the company of artificially inflating insulin prices.
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