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Comment by coldpie | Hacker News Reader

Hi Eric! I'm a T1D and so super interested in this space. Can you comment on whether it is the case that "modern" insulins (Lantus and Humalog/Novolog, in my case) are both covered by current patents, and also considerably better for patient outcomes (faster acting, more predictable -> lower A1c) than non-covered insulins? That is my understanding for why cheap, high quality insulins are not available, but I'd love to be informed if it is not the case! Thank you for your work in this area!

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(not OP). some quick googling reveals lantus is no longer covered by patents. patents in the usa last 20y, and they filed the main patent for that drug in 1994.

it looks like they tried to patent some pen injection mechanism as a way to artificially extend the patent, but the patents were tossed out. I think that's a similar approach to how the Epi-pen people have maintained control, except their pursuit was successful (epinephrine isn't exactly a new chemical, nor is the process for manufacture).

still--manufacture of these drugs is long and expensive process, esp with fda approval. new entrants want to recoup their cost. the public is a great institution to develop generics because it can happily do so without a profit motive.

I think Humalog/Novalog patents expired a while back. These companies will probably focus on other newer drugs for profitability like Semaglutide which is useful for dealing T2D and obesity.

Another thing that needs to be investigated is how much the PBMs (Pharmacy Benefits Managers) prpfit from the spread of drug pricing. Are they marking these drugs up a lot? Do they need to be tightly regulated?

Jokes on them. I can buy raw semaglutide powder two steps off a Google search at 10% of retail.

Hi as some of the others have already mentioned Lantus is off patent. My organization is focused on insulin glargine but there are generic versions of insulin lispro and aspart. Which is the generic/biosimilar version of humalog/novolog. We decided to stick with glargine first and transition to the other versions as we progress.

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