https://www.cnn.com/2024/03/22/health/insulin-shortage-eli-lilly/index.html
Lilly stock has been doing very well, but Lilly virtually invented insulin. Actually the work was done at Univ of Toronto but they selected Lilly to commercialize it. They also adopted human insulin from genetic modification rather than from butchered livestock. The $30/mo insulin program is goid but you worry about profits. Its good to read that other new business lines will replace those funds.
University of Toronto did not license it to anyone. It was deliberately made free for anyone who wanted to make it.
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"Kahn devotes 12 pages to insulin. In 1921, Frederick G. Banting and Charles H. Best at the University of Toronto proved that insulin from butchered animals could treat diabetics. Previously diabetes was a fatal disease treated by a starvation diet. Production proved difficult. Through contacts Lilly took up the challenge in May, 1922. George B. Walden and his wife, Eda Bachman Walden, developed the isoelectric precipitation process that yielded stable insulin of standardized purity. Lilly’s insulin went on the market in October, 1923. It raised Lilly’s prestige in the industry. "
From a book review–
“All In A Century: The First 100 Years of Eli Lilly and Company,” by E. J. Kahn, Jr., (no copyright notice) 1976, Eli Lilly and Company, Indianapolis. This 211-page hardback is a typical corporate biography, loaded with names of key executives and researchers, and not much discussion of business strategy.
Says nothing about licensing but Lilly did make it a practical treatment.
The history of lily profiting off of insulin has been evil. The lobbying and lying.
It feels like Lily issued a threat against type I diabetics. The pharma companies are crappy liars.
Lilly does have competitors in insulin. They were the pioneers and led the industry for years.
I do not see them as heroes. A lot of Americans were hurt by their pricing practices. The harm meant nothing to the company.
Ditto most of the pharm industry. Keep products on patent as long as possible, stop or delay generics, and keep prices high.
It does fund research and keeps profits high.
I’ve been a LLY investor for over 30 years. I originally bought for the R&D, but I stayed for the massive grift of being able to buy Congress to prevent any price competition. {Thank you Justice Roberts and Citizens United}
First Medicaid managed care plan announced that it’s covering weight loss drugs. LLY closing in on $800/share and a $1 Trillion market cap.
intercst
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I do not have a problem with the investors. I have a problem with the laws. They are very abusive. A lot of harm has come to American citizens.
Nah, not harm! The great Amurican system of “money is protected political speech” capitalism would never harm the sheep it sheers.
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