Opinion: Cutting-edge insulin is good. But it’s the ‘trailing edge’ of older versions that can keep it affordable
Physicians Frederick Banting and John MacLeod declined to be listed on the patent for insulin in 1923; their co-inventors Charles Best and James Collip sold the patent to the University of Toronto for $1. But despite the discoverers’ efforts to make insulin available and cheap for everyone, it has today become the poster child for soaring pharmaceutical prices.
According to Yale researchers, 14% Americans who need insulin to control their diabetes spend more than 40% of their post-subsistence income (what is available after paying for food and housing) on the drug. Many avoid or ration their treatment because of the high cost. In a 2018 survey, 45% of respondents managing diabetes reported having intentionally foregone insulin treatment for a period because of the financial burden. Each new generation of insulin products has been marked by an increase in price.
