The history of insulin captures one of the mystifying complexities of the pharmaceutical market — how long-standing drugs become more expensive with time and competition fails to hold down prices. Companies point to improvements in their drugs, but medical experts say some of those changes are simply a strategy to keep prices high with new patent protections. They question how much the molecular tweaks to insulin really improve patients' health.
Some of the improvements have been substantial, replacing insulin derived from animals with a genetically engineered human version with fewer side effects. But the latest generation of “ultra-long acting” insulins, in particular, has generated a debate about whether the newest versions are really worth the cost.
