By: Cynthia Munrayos
November is Diabetes Awareness Month, and we are highlighting Project Insulin, a non-profit making their own generic insulin that will sell directly to patients at an affordable cost regardless of insurance status. Executive Director and Founder, Eric Moyal, participated in the “Activate Your Impact” program, which was a partnership between Innovation Studio and Boston Impact Initiative, in April 2023. He also completed our GROW Cohort in May 2023. He is fundraising to support the testing and approval of insulin development for those in need.
Inspired by a conversation with his partner, Gabriella Fleischman, Eric remembers discussing with her the high cost of insulin and how it isn’t affordable for everyone. Given that insulin has been around for so long, it brought light to the fact that many drug development organizations have had significant experience in insulin development. Eric reflects, “It reaffirmed that this isn’t a science problem. This is a money problem- a problem that we could solve if we can raise enough money.”
The process of developing insulin can be long and technical as it involves conducting toxicology and stability studies, but also numerous trial and error cycles in creating and scaling the insulin strains themselves. Having always been interested in entrepreneurship and coming from a fundraising background, Eric mentions, “It was an opportunity to give back. I wanted to work in healthcare, so this felt like the perfect timing for me.”
Even though the drug will not be available for some time, Eric says, “we are continuing to work with local organizations and reach out to communities in low-income areas to inform them about what we are doing. We want to understand where people are getting their insulin and how they are accessing it. Are there any issues in that process? What are the friction points? Our goal is to identify these challenges and see if we can alleviate them.”
Having gone through Innovation Studio Programming, Eric mentions some key moments throughout the GROW program.
“I think there was an opportunity to learn, exchange ideas, and to get a bit more polished. Although to me, the most valuable piece of both those programs was the intra-entrepreneur conversations,” said Eric. “It took away this veil that everything that all the other startups are doing is working super well and everything is going great, and that no one’s having any issues. When you got to talk to your peers in class, it was a great opportunity to let our guard down and just be people, while also being passionate about the things we do.”
You can support Project Insulin by donating to their cause or helping to spread the word about the Stand-Up to Diabetes Comedy Show benefiting Project Insulin at Comedy Connections on Tuesday, November 19th. To buy your ticket, visit the link HERE.
