The modern insulin analogs that are being referenced in the OP were far more expensive to develop than OG insulin, created in labs with teams of scientists and probably costing hundreds of millions just in safety testing. Doesn't even remotely compare to the original purification process for human insulin. This is a total red herring. The discussion should be whether the companies are taking too much profit on top of whatever the r&d costs and costs to develop the drug are. I'm not an expert on the subject but insulin is a biologic and biologics are much more expensive to develop and produce than regular drugs. If the drug costs more than $50 per month to produce then the government better be stepping in to make up the difference including some degree of profits. No pharmaceutical company is going to take the time and energy to develop these life-saving meds if they can't make money, some of which would go to further development of new drugs. People can feel free to go back to OG insulin and have very poor control over their glucose and make themselves sick. Feel free to comment if anyone knows more about this than I do.