[indalo]

Understandable, but something like an EpiPen and a lot of other very well established things like say, insulin. They're well within the realm of a stable generic that can be managed as to maximize the amount of lifes it improves. Right?

[sxg]

Regarding insulin, we’ve made huge progress in so many ways, and there is still room for improvement. We have different forms of insulin with different lifespans that we can use to create insulin regimens for different kinds of diabetics. For example, we have lantus, which is a long acting insulin that helps give 24 hour coverage. We combine that with short acting insulin lispro at mealtimes. Lantus is a relatively new form of insulin that wasn’t available a few decades ago.

Different bodies also respond very differently to all the different kinds of insulin available. There is room for further improvement as the typical lantus/lispro regimen isn’t perfect for everyone.

[rayiner]

The epi-pen auto injector is tricky to do right, so it took a few tries to make a good generic. But they’re on the market now: https://www.consumerreports.org/drugs/epipen-shortage-contin...

Insulin is hard to manufacture. The older versions are now generic, but the new, patented ones have measurable advantages. Because most people have insurance coverage, there is a limited market for the older, generic insulin.