3 ms·

If this is at all attractive to people, it's going to make insulin so damned expensive. The price of insulin is already rising: there aren't all that many gene

If this is at all attractive to people, it's going to make insulin so damned expensive. The price of insulin is already rising: there aren't all that many generic manufacturers of it, leaving them in a competition-free market. If this takes off it's going to suck up a good chunk of the marketplace, and probably leave us with maybe one or two generic manufacturers - enough to have an effective monopoly. Insulin prices will spike the same way epi pens did. Good tech. But sad re. what it's going to do to patients for a while.

coltonv 8y ago
Manufacturing insulin isn't under patent or a trade secret is it? If the price of insulin rises, then manufacturing insulin becomes more economically viable, so new players will enter the arena, thus driving the price down. Is there any reason this wouldn't be subject to the normal laws of supply and demand?
- snowmaker 8y ago
  You would think so, but the market is dysfunctional because of the regulatory complexity of the US healthcare system: https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/2018-06-29/whats-behind-the-rising-costs-of-insulin https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/20...
- Qwertystop 8y ago
  https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-drug-companies-keep-insulin-prices-high/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-drug-companies-keep-insulin... Looks like a patent issue (every new improvement in production methods has its own patent, so the insulins for which patents have expired are lower-quality in one way or another) plus shipping costs (refrigerated bottled liquids with a shelf life <6 months).
lm28469 8y ago
> The price of insulin is already rising That really is a sad state of affair, insulin is cheap to produce and we shouldn't live in a world where such a basic medicine is controlled by for profit organizations. At least in countries with a proper health system the cost isn't impacting on an individual level. https://beyondtype1.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-insulin/ https://beyondtype1.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-ins...
- refurb 8y ago
  Generic insulin is available at $25 per vial. Guess what? Nobody wants to use it because the next generation of insulins is better.
  - gravity13 8y ago
    There isn't a generic insulin available (at least in the US) - that's why there's a movement of biohackers to homebrew insulin.
    - refurb 8y ago
      While not a true generic, Novo Nordisk does sell an old version of their insulin at Walmart for $25 a vial. About as close to a generic as you’re going to get.
  - dsaavy 8y ago
    As a type 1 diabetic, this isn’t remotely true for me. Novolog and its equivalents made timing impossible for peaks of insulin and food absorption. Also made low carb impossible due to the peak pattern of the insulin compared to digestion of low carb, high protein meals. Insulin pumps with combo boluses resulted in unpredictable absorption due to scar tissue from having low body fat percentage. Ended up switching back to generic novolin R (regular) as injections which allows me to use different areas of the body, eat low carb, and dropped my a1c down 3 points. Reduced my standard deviation of blood sugars by about 45 as well. Every diabetic is different though as others have found great success with novolog, insulin pumps, etc.
    - refurb 8y ago
      Interesting! What I’ve heard from other diabetics is that the older Novolin drugs take a lot more effort to get constant insulin levels than the newer ones. I guess not true for everyone!!
peter303 8y ago
Insulin has been around 90 years. Its gone through several different methods of extraction and manufacturing. They know how to make it high quality and inexpensive.

coltonv 8y ago

Manufacturing insulin isn't under patent or a trade secret is it? If the price of insulin rises, then manufacturing insulin becomes more economically viable, so new players will enter the arena, thus driving the price down. Is there any reason this wouldn't be subject to the normal laws of supply and demand?

snowmaker 8y ago
You would think so, but the market is dysfunctional because of the regulatory complexity of the US healthcare system: https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/2018-06-29/whats-behind-the-rising-costs-of-insulin https://health.usnews.com/health-care/for-better/articles/20...
Qwertystop 8y ago
https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-drug-companies-keep-insulin-prices-high/ https://www.cbsnews.com/news/how-drug-companies-keep-insulin... Looks like a patent issue (every new improvement in production methods has its own patent, so the insulins for which patents have expired are lower-quality in one way or another) plus shipping costs (refrigerated bottled liquids with a shelf life <6 months).

lm28469 8y ago

> The price of insulin is already rising That really is a sad state of affair, insulin is cheap to produce and we shouldn't live in a world where such a basic medicine is controlled by for profit organizations. At least in countries with a proper health system the cost isn't impacting on an individual level. https://beyondtype1.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-insulin/ https://beyondtype1.org/how-much-does-it-cost-to-produce-ins...

refurb 8y ago
Generic insulin is available at $25 per vial. Guess what? Nobody wants to use it because the next generation of insulins is better.
- gravity13 8y ago
  There isn't a generic insulin available (at least in the US) - that's why there's a movement of biohackers to homebrew insulin.
  - refurb 8y ago
    While not a true generic, Novo Nordisk does sell an old version of their insulin at Walmart for $25 a vial. About as close to a generic as you’re going to get.
- dsaavy 8y ago
  As a type 1 diabetic, this isn’t remotely true for me. Novolog and its equivalents made timing impossible for peaks of insulin and food absorption. Also made low carb impossible due to the peak pattern of the insulin compared to digestion of low carb, high protein meals. Insulin pumps with combo boluses resulted in unpredictable absorption due to scar tissue from having low body fat percentage. Ended up switching back to generic novolin R (regular) as injections which allows me to use different areas of the body, eat low carb, and dropped my a1c down 3 points. Reduced my standard deviation of blood sugars by about 45 as well. Every diabetic is different though as others have found great success with novolog, insulin pumps, etc.
  - refurb 8y ago
    Interesting! What I’ve heard from other diabetics is that the older Novolin drugs take a lot more effort to get constant insulin levels than the newer ones. I guess not true for everyone!!

peter303 8y ago

Insulin has been around 90 years. Its gone through several different methods of extraction and manufacturing. They know how to make it high quality and inexpensive.