california Archives - Medical Design Sourcing

California partners with manufacturer to make affordable generic insulin

[Insulin molecular model image Dr_Microbe/Adobe Stock]

The state of California has established a $50 million collaboration over a decade with the generic drug manufacturer Civica. The goal of the collaboration is to create affordable state-branded generic insulin.

Qualified individuals may obtain a 10-mL vial of generic insulin for $30 or less. California plans to provide a pack containing five prefilled 3 mL pens for $55 or less.

Governor Gavin Newsom hopes California’s emergence as an insulin-maker will lead insulin prices to collapse.

Echoing these efforts, President Biden has made it clear that his administration is dedicated to bringing down health care expenses. In that vein, Biden has urged pharmaceutical giants to rein in insulin prices.

Major insulin makers respond to pressure for lower prices

In recent weeks, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY), Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) and Sanofi (Nasdaq:SNY) …

Sanofi joins Lilly and Novo Nordisk in drastic insulin price reductions

[Image courtesy of ayo888 via iStock Photo]

Paris-based Sanofi (Nasdaq:SNY) is the fastest company to reduce insulin prices. The pharmaceutical behemoth said it would cut the list price of Lantus (insulin glargine injection) by 78%. Lantus is its most commonly prescribed insulin in the U.S. Moreover, Sanofi will implement a $35 cap on out-of-pocket expenses for users of the insulin.

Sanofi has also pledged to slash the list price of its short-acting Apidra (insulin glulisine injection) 100 units/mL by a 70%.

The company has a 40% share of the U.S. market.

Lilly and Novo Nordisk have similar initiatives

This follows recent announcements from other companies striving to decrease insulin costs. For example, Eli Lilly (NYSE:LLY) committed to capping out-of-pocket expenses for insulin at $35 monthly. Lilly also said it would drop the price of its non-branded insulin to $25 per vial, resulting in cos…

Polaris Pharmaceuticals extends operations in Northern California

Vacaville Mayor Ron Rowlett (right) meets with Vacaville’s Polaris Principal Engineer Mary Scomona, Business Development Manager Jose Ortiz and Facility Director Matt Mitchell (left to right).

San Diego–based Polaris Pharmaceuticals has purchased 15 acres from the City of Vacaville, California, within the Vaca Valley Business Park.

Polaris already has a contract development and manufacturing site in the city in addition to operations in San Diego and Chengdu, China.

In Vacaville, the company plans to construct an additional biopharmaceutical manufacturing facility.

Polaris established the Vacaville site in 2002, adding a cGMP facility for biologics in 2005

“We are excited to expand our manufacturing and process research capabilities in Vacaville,” said Chris Huxsoll, senior vice president of operations of Polaris Pharmaceuticals, in a statement.

Home to the non-profit C…

An inside look at Northern California’s growing biomanufacturing hub

Vacaville shown on Google Maps

Vacaville, Calif. is home to a burgeoning biotech hub.

And there’s more to Vacaville’s biomanufacturing industry than Genentech’s presence there. “Genentech is just one of the biotech companies to open in Vacaville,” said Don Burrus, the city’s director of economic development services. “We’ve had biomanufacturers here for almost 30 years.”

Genentech set up shop in the city, located 35 miles southeast of Sacramento, in the late 1990s. The company acquired land in the city in 1994.

More recently, Lexington, Mass.–based Agenus purchased 120 acres in the city.

When Burrus began working for the city in June 2020, he collaborated with economists and other economic development experts to analyze the city’s economic drivers.

“We were able to determine that biomanufacturing and advanced manufacturing were big economic drivers,” Burrus said.

Afte…

The hottest life science hubs in the U.S.

Boston at night [Photo by Lance Anderson on Unsplash]

Boston, San Francisco and San Diego remain the leading U.S. life science hubs — hauling in 70% of all the venture capital in the space last year, according to a new report from commercial real estate services company JLL.

Venture capital funding matters, according to JLL, because it fuels innovative companies that then require more real estate space. It’s little wonder that Boston and San Francisco led other clusters with respect to development, with 2.7 million square feet and 4.0 million square feet respectively under construction.

The U.S. is struggling through the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting recession. But JLL in its “2020 Life Sciences Real Estate Outlook” report expressed optimism when it comes to the life sciences sector. Key points in the report included:

The pandemic has sparked a race to create coronavirus tests, t…