The insulin the patent was sold for costs about $20 at Walmart. The modern insulin costing $500 is a completely different product. It’s an insulin analogue. It’

The insulin the patent was sold for costs about $20 at Walmart. The modern insulin costing $500 is a completely different product. It’s an insulin analogue. It’s not even human insulin, it’s a synthetic compound that provides the same function of insulin, but with a much more efficacy, convenience, and safety. They were developed by the pharma companies in the last few decades, and continue to be iterated and improved on. There are reasons to be concerned about insulin pricing, but this remains a completely wrong and uninformed one. It is the equivalent of expressing shock that a smartphone costs hundreds of dollars when walkie talkies have been around for decades and only cost $20.