Which sort of insulin? There are a number of varieties that have been synthesised that are not the same as human. These are important and have made a big difference to managing diabetes. Also, the process by which insulin is created is subject to patent, even if the actual chemical isn’t. The FDA and their peers take a strong interest in new processes, and want a new certification of the drug’s quality if you want to make it in a new manner.
Shows how much I know. I assumed insulin was one compound and didn’t look it up. I did not realize it was a protein complex. Obviously any insulin that exists naturally qualifies.
Of course the FDA is interested in how things were made, and of course patents are involved in the synthesis. That’s really the point here. There are many ways for drug companies to make money off of unpatentable substances.
Heparin is a good example of a drug where all the IP lies in the process, and also fit’s the bill as a natural product drug. It’s a complex polysaccharide in our bodies that acts as an anticoagulant.
To use it clinically, cut down heparin oligosaccharides are employed that have more predictable anti-coagulant properties. de novo Synthesis is not feasible, so they’re isolated from slaughtered animal tissue, but have historically being an absolute bastard to purify. Most major pharma cos have a heparin prep that varies in the treatment process used to isolate the material (and will also vary in the precise structure of the oligomer AFAIK).
I guess it comes down to how many billions of dollars we’re willing to shell out for “people who aren’t really sick”.
Right now the amounts poured into supplements and various forms of woo are mostly out-of-pocket, and limited by people’s ability to pay. Once government-approved woo is here, the spigots will really open wide since it’ll be “free”.
Here in Oz some of the private health insurers cover a range of alternative medicine. Some of it unadulterated woo. I get somewhat peeved that my health insurance costs go in part to help cover this. One the other hand, these quacks are cheaper than having various hypochondriacs pestering proper medicine. So perhaps it actually helps keep my premiums down. Hard to say. The insurers will have done the numbers no doubt. (The level of cover and rebate is limited, about a 50% co-payment.)
I worked for a contract lab that was managing the development studies for two competing companies on the exact same molecule. The drug was an amino acid - L-arginine - which is found in pretty much anything you may eat. What was of interest to the companies was the manufacturing method, the active ingredient synthesis and the final formulation, all of which can have some patentable aspects.
Interestingly, the only reason I know that the two were in competition was that I worked on one of them and therefore had to be declared “ineligible” to perform any work whatsoever on the other project (which was assigned to another team of chemists) due to non-compete clauses in the contracts. I wasn’t allowed to view any data or be involved in any testing/discussion about the other product.