After helping develop the first insulin therapy in 1921, Canadian physician Frederick Banting transferred his patent rights to the University of Toronto for $1, stating that insulin belonged to the world — not to him.
A century later, insulin medications remain essential in treating diabetes, and have relatively low production costs, with a vial generally costing less than $6 to make.
But how much it costs a patient to buy varies greatly by country.
Those in the US may pay thousands for insulin annually — on average 10 times more than those in many other countries — leading some patients to take less than prescribed.
And this is part of a much larger trend.
Let's take a look at the US drug supply chain to understand why.
First, there's research and development, which ranges widely in cost, depending on the drug.
Expenses incurred by the many drugs that don't make it to market also need to be factored in here.
And almost every approved drug has been subsidized by taxes.
Before pharmaceutical companies actually release a drug, they set its price.
