The Entrepreneur Forum | Financial Freedom | Starting a Business | Motivation | Money | Success

Welcome to the only entrepreneur forum dedicated to building life-changing wealth.

Build a Fastlane business. Earn real financial freedom. Join free.

Join over 80,000 entrepreneurs who have rejected the paradigm of mediocrity and said "NO!" to underpaid jobs, ascetic frugality, and suffocating savings rituals— learn how to build a Fastlane business that pays both freedom and lifestyle affluence.

Free registration at the forum removes this block.

Creating an insulin company from scratch

A detailed account of a Fastlane process...

EntreWithADream

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
60%
Jun 12, 2020
5
3
Dawsonville, GA
Obviously I’d use the formula that was created around 1979.

Insulin prices in the U.S are insanely high priced which causes a stressful quality of life for individuals with diabetes including myself.

My idea is to create a business which makes insulin and sells it for a much smaller profit margin that it’s currently being sold at.

As of right now insulin is priced in the thousands without insurance paying for it. My price would be $20 flat. The cost to make insulin is around a dollar.

I have a couple questions.

I’m 19 and have little experience in the business world. Are the drug companies too monopolized to compete with?

What would be the best way to find a scientist to help me complete this vision and is this a reasonable idea and business model?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

journeyman

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
176%
Apr 18, 2017
165
291
United States
I hate to shoot down your idea but there are 2 problems:

1) The numbers are off. The manufacturing cost you have cited, even if true, certainly doesn't take into account all the investment that has gone into manufacturing and selling.

2) To manufacture and take another insulin product to the market you are looking at a multi-million dollar investment. Who is going to invest this kind of money if they know that they won't make any profit from it?

It's easy to get sentimental about drug prices but they are high for a reason. For many reasons actually, but if you'd like to make a difference in the field why don't you go after something novel? How about coming up with a way to normalize endogenous insulin levels? Then if you have control over the product you can price it at whatever you think is fair...
 

EntreWithADream

New Contributor
Read Fastlane!
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
60%
Jun 12, 2020
5
3
Dawsonville, GA
I hate to shoot down your idea but there are 2 problems:

1) The numbers are off. The manufacturing cost you have cited, even if true, certainly doesn't take into account all the investment that has gone into manufacturing and selling.

2) To manufacture and take another insulin product to the market you are looking at a multi-million dollar investment. Who is going to invest this kind of money if they know that they won't make any profit from it?

It's easy to get sentimental about drug prices but they are high for a reason. For many reasons actually, but if you'd like to make a difference in the field why don't you go after something novel? How about coming up with a way to normalize endogenous insulin levels? Then if you have control over the product you can price it at whatever you think is fair...

I appreciate the response. I have a lot of learning I need to do for sure. I had not considered the research costs that went into it.

As for “normalizing endogenous insulin levels,” do you mean creating something that uses insulin which helps better utilize it?
 

journeyman

Bronze Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
176%
Apr 18, 2017
165
291
United States
I appreciate the response. I have a lot of learning I need to do for sure. I had not considered the research costs that went into it.

As for “normalizing endogenous insulin levels,” do you mean creating something that uses insulin which helps better utilize it?

I mean anything that fixes the problem instead of addressing the symptom, i.e. gene therapy or another, new concept. Why do we have to constantly inject insulin instead of getting the body to re-make it?
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Tourmaline

Gold Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
120%
Jun 4, 2019
898
1,082
Texas
What stops other companies from making cheaper insulin already?

My understanding is that it's patents on things like delivery mechanisms. But I'm no expert!
 

FastManCostin

Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Summit Attendee
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
111%
Aug 17, 2018
19
21
30
Houston
I take insulin every day (Type 1 diabetes) and high insulin prices certainly are a problem.

However, Trump recently signed some EOs that will reduce the price of insulin and it will now be legal to import insulin from countries where it is cheaper.


I would look into some more details on this.

I used to visit family in Romania during the summer and would always pick up a few vials of insulin (Novolog) OTC for super cheap, like $20 a pop.

I think a vial of novolog in Venezuela is like $6.
 

Thoelt53

Gold Contributor
FASTLANE INSIDER
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
293%
Dec 8, 2016
826
2,419
Boston, MA
You can import up to three months of low risk prescription meds for personal use per 21 US Code Chapter 9.
 
Dislike ads? Remove them and support the forum: Subscribe to Fastlane Insiders.

Flint

Bronze Contributor
Read Fastlane!
Read Unscripted!
Speedway Pass
User Power
Value/Post Ratio
193%
Jul 14, 2020
229
443
Another important factor is the new (quicker) regulatory pathway for insulin that will change the competitive landscape (relatively lower barriers to entry):



From the last link:
Once available, FDA-approved biosimilar and interchangeable insulin products are expected to expand competition and ultimately empower patients by increasing choices and potentially lowering prices of safe, effective, high-quality medications.
 

Post New Topic

Please SEARCH before posting.
Please select the BEST category.

Post new topic

Guest post submissions offered HERE.

Latest Posts

New Topics

Fastlane Insiders

View the forum AD FREE.
Private, unindexed content
Detailed process/execution threads
Ideas needing execution, more!

Join Fastlane Insiders.

Top