In the world insulin market, a monopoly of three companies was actually established: the Danish Novo Nordisk, the American Eli Lilly and the French Sanofi. They control 90% of the world’s production and sales of a vital substance for diabetics. Due to the lack of competition, corporations jointly raise prices every year.
A group of biohackers from the US city of Baltimore plans to end the monopoly. Researchers have already found a way to produce the microorganisms needed for insulin in a bioreactor, and are now working on a way to purify them. The project team expects the price of the resulting insulin to be 98% less than that set by Novo Nordisk, Eli Lilly and Sanofi. What’s more, Open Insulin plans to distribute its designs for free so that labs in the poorest countries can make their own.