One distributor still holds all three insulin brands

All three insulin brands sold in Jamaica remain with Aventa Jamaica Limited more than six weeks after a new distributor for the Eli Lilly brand was expected to take over – a delay that runs through World Diabetes Day on November 14.

The Fair Trading Commission’s (FTC) staff report said the handover was expected by September 2026. The regulator, however, clarified that the timeline was never compulsory.

“That date was not a binding deadline for the transfer,” stated David Miller, executive director of the FTC, in a Financial Gleaner interview.

About 235,600 Jamaicans live with diabetes, according to the International Diabetes Federation, and the FTC previously put the value of the local market at roughly $30 billion in its February report, a figure redacted from the March update. The report is entitled the Acquisition of Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Limited by Caribbean Distribution Partners Limited.

Aventa Jamaica now distributes the insulin brands made by Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi, according to the FTC. Previously, two distributors sold the drugs. Aventa Jamaica, formerly known as Health Brands, is a leading distributor majority-owned by Trinidad-based Agostini Limited.

The FTC identified no distributor offering a reasonable substitute, according to the staff report published in February and revised in March.

Even though Aventa distributes the brand, the handover requires the overseas regional supplier of Eli Lilly to appoint a new local distributor.

“The authorised regional supplier for Eli Lilly brands has advised that discussions with a new distributor in Jamaica are well advanced,” said Miller.

In a separate Consent Agreement dated February 2026, the FTC identified the Cari-Med Group as the proposed new distributor of the Eli Lilly brand. Cari-Med declined to comment when contacted.

Aventa when contacted stated that it “remains the authorised distributor of Eli Lilly insulin products in Jamaica and continues to engage with the FTC on applicable compliance requirements”.

Miller said the FTC has seen no evidence or complaints of price spikes in the market.

The overall issue stems from the sale of Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Limited to Acado, a regional joint venture of Agostini Limited and Goddard Enterprises Limited. Massy distributed insulin made by Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. Agostini already owned Aventa, which distributes the third brand, Eli Lilly. The FTC concluded that putting Massy and Aventa under the same ownership would likely substantially lessen competition and create what its staff report called a “monopoly distributor” of insulin products in Jamaica.

Before the acquisition, Aventa led the intermediate-acting insulin class with about 81 per cent of the market and Massy held the remaining 19 per cent, according to figures contained in the FTC’s February report and later redacted from the March version.

“The FTC identified potential harm to the insulin market from Acado’s acquisition of Massy Distribution (Jamaica) Ltd as the possibility that a single firm (Aventa) would become the sole distributor of all insulin brands,” Miller said.

“We concluded that the acquisition is likely to have the effect of substantially lessening competition by removing competition in the insulin market, as it would result in a single distributor controlling the only three brands in the relevant market,” he added.

Miller declined to name the regional supplier, citing confidentiality, or to identify the company it is in discussions with.

Acado announced the Massy purchase in February 2025 and closed it in March 2026, after more than a year of regulatory scrutiny focused largely on insulin. To win the FTC’s approval, Acado and Aventa agreed to stop distributing the Eli Lilly portfolio once an independent distributor takes over.

The agreement requires both to maintain supplies of Eli Lilly insulin products, preserve the viability and competitiveness of the business, maintain service standards and customer support, hold sales and mark-up levels steady, and stay unaffiliated with the incoming distributor. An independent party files monthly compliance reports on Aventa’s sales and mark-ups, which the FTC does not publish. Miller said the mechanism remains in place.

The regulator said that the protections are working.

“Both Acado and Aventa have been complying with the conditions of the Consent Agreement,” Miller said. “The FTC has not observed any competition concerns and has not received any complaints.”

He added: “The FTC believes the Ameliorative Measures and the Compliance & Monitoring mechanism have been meeting the intended objective of limiting the likelihood of harm to consumers and competition in the market for insulin products”.

carolyn.guniss@rjrgleaner.com