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Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

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Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#81

Post by idealmedtech »

pg_bot wrote: post #62
ipnon wrote: post #24

How hard would it be to found an insulin startup? This seems like the kind of problem designed to be intractable, the "busy work" of bureaucratic private health care systems.

Depends on the type of insulin you want to make, but if you want to be at the cutting edge it would likely cost around a billion dollars. You have to avoid the intellectual property minefield on the manufacturing side. The production of insulin and its delivery mechanisms are heavily patented and the big pharma companies will shut you down if you infringe on anything. If you want a reference for this happening you ca…

No one in their right mind would build manufacturing from scratch. Contract manufacturers exist to do relatively cheap design work in exchange for access to their expensive-to-build (but cheap to use by comparison) manufacturing facilities.

I can't speak to drug manufacturing, but I know from experience that when it comes to medical devices, you save almost 10x in up front fixed cost by outsourcing, like California is doing. You spend more per unit, but still profit, so you can build a healthy warchest while you accumulate experienced personnel to build out a more vertically integrated manufacturing process.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#83

Post by HWR_14 »

gpm wrote: post #55
usrn wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds to me like the modern process is just working up GMO yeast matabolites. I feel like the main issue is probably going to be patents and not something technical.

Do state governments have to respect patents? Edit: Answering myself here, they do not: https://www.vorys.com/publications-2574.html

Yes, state governments have to respect patents. So does the federal government.

However, many patents that are issued in association with a research grant include a clause that allows the government to use the patent without charge. I have no idea if any/many insulin patents are included in such clauses.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#84

Post by kupopuffs »

gandalfgeek wrote: post #28
enahs-sf wrote: post #18

Sometimes I feel like this is the endgame where the US overall kind of declines but California starts managing itself better and operates almost like an independent country. Probably wishful thinking but would be great.

I can’t relate at all to that sentiment. California has got to be one of the most bloated and wasteful state governments in the entire US. High taxes and nothing to show for it. The entrenched far left seems bent on destroying the middle class, driving out business, regulating everything to death and displacing merit as a selection factor. Whatever glory Cali has— tech, entertainment, farming, weather, natural beauty…

"Purge it of its corruption…and it would become an impracticable government"

Alexander Hamilton. On california of course

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#85

Post by Dracophoenix »

chasil wrote: post #67

Quoted post unavailable.

> Outsourcing would be financially expedient, but that would be the end of executive aspirations.

Suspicions regarding Newsom's motive notwithstanding, outsourcing production to foreign countries is in fact a more difficult endeavor due to strict controls on pharmaceutical imports by the FDA.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#86

Post by rayiner »

YeBanKo wrote: post #65
rayiner wrote: post #54

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don’t think that’a entirely fair. California is the product of good governance during the 1950s-1980s. There is public infrastructure, like good schools and universities, that needs to be laid to attract industry in the first place. California probably wouldn’t the what it is without the UC system, for example. Of course that was a very different California.

California schools system is not good.

They used to be good.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#87

Post by idealmedtech »

colinmhayes wrote: post #42
usrn wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It sounds to me like the modern process is just working up GMO yeast matabolites. I feel like the main issue is probably going to be patents and not something technical.

Can’t you use older recipes?

Most older expired IP insulin just isn't very convenient to use for most people; it requires more intense participation from the people using it, so you tend to get worse results (imagine if you had to actively think about breathing in enough oxygen every single waking hour of your life -- it's exhausting). The longer acting, more specialized insulins are still heavily patented. When insulin takes longer to work, the person using it has to think less about the insulin and actually gets to live their life rather than think about blood sugar all day.

Now, if you closed the loop and used older insulins, you'd have good control and less issues since a computer would bear the cognitive load, but glucose control, especially in the outpatient setting, is ridiculously hard. If you think you can solve it though, give it a shot. It's a multi billion dollar market and a lot of lives you can improve.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#88

Post by zbrozek »

enahs-sf wrote: post #18

Sometimes I feel like this is the endgame where the US overall kind of declines but California starts managing itself better and operates almost like an independent country. Probably wishful thinking but would be great.

Pretty wishful thinking indeed. It's already losing population (down two years running), probably due to a bunch of factors. My guess it's being driven by the obscene cost of living (housing, taxation, energy) and the declining quality of life (worsening air quality, growing petty crime and homelessness, creaky infrastructure).

Most of these are uncomplicated policy problems, yet solutions seem out of reach. Do you think CA would establish property rights to get housing? Or repeal prop 13 to reduce penalties for the young in favor of the old? Or get rid of CEQA to let folks build infrastructure? Or reform the CPUC so that energy markets are more competitive and reliable? Not going to happen.

Re: Governor Newsom announces California will make its own insulin

#90

Post by ksm1717 »

gandalfgeek wrote: post #28
enahs-sf wrote: post #18

Sometimes I feel like this is the endgame where the US overall kind of declines but California starts managing itself better and operates almost like an independent country. Probably wishful thinking but would be great.

I can’t relate at all to that sentiment. California has got to be one of the most bloated and wasteful state governments in the entire US. High taxes and nothing to show for it. The entrenched far left seems bent on destroying the middle class, driving out business, regulating everything to death and displacing merit as a selection factor. Whatever glory Cali has— tech, entertainment, farming, weather, natural beauty…

I promise you that California is not entrenched with anyone remotely far to the left
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