Public Pharma
When private companies control who gets medicine and at what price, patients pay the price. Public pharmaceutical enterprises mean they are developers, manufacturers, and/or distributors are owned by the public, the government, rather than by private shareholders. Public pharma offers a model where insulin is produced for people with no profit motive shaping who gets access.
A month of modern insulin only costs between $3 and $6 to manufacture, but cost up to hundreds of times that. One in three people with diabetes worldwide rations insulin due to cost, and insulin shortages driven by corporate decisions continue to harm patients around the world. When manufacturers shift production capacity to more profitable drugs like GLP-1s, patients on insulin pay the price in shortages and discontinuations. Public Pharma gives governments the tools to ensure supply continuity and stable pricing.
T1international has been building this movement state by state. California’s CalRx program now offers insulin pens for $55/box, Naoloxone (opens in a new tab), and albuterol inhalers (opens in a new tab), with more drugs in progress. Several US states, including Michign, Ohio and New York, have introduced policies to create similar programs. Others, including Washington, Oregon, Ohio, Vermont and Nevada, have joined ArrayRx to leverage their collective state power for drug purchasing and discounts.
Brazil won public pharma for insulin analogues while patient organizing in Pakistan has secured stronger public procurement policies. Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, and Brazil all have local production that can be strengthened to build more resilient, publicly accountable drug supply. These examples show that public pharma is not just an idea but is already being build through policy and organizing around the world.
Toolkits, Trainings, and Other Resources
A vial of insulin costs about $6 to make, but it’s then sold for $300. The pharma industry inflates prices, PBMs play middleman, and people with diabetes pay the price. The market is not broken by accident; it’s built this way to benefit corporations while patients go without. That’s why we need public pharma, a structure that puts people before profit.
Executive Director
at NYU public pharma event 2025
Public Pharma News
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