About
Project Insulin
Healthcare is a human right. Yet high insulin prices keep life-saving medicine out of reach for too many. That’s why Project Insulin exists, to make biosimilar insulin glargine and distribute it at cost regardless of insurance status. We’re cutting the middlemen so patients don’t pay more than they have to.
Our Team
Eric Moyal
Executive Director
Before founding Project Insulin, Eric led major fundraising efforts at Brandeis University, helping raise over $2 million during Giving Tuesday campaigns. He also serves on the board of the Reflex Sympathetic Dystrophy Syndrome Association and delivered a TEDx talk in 2020 on allyship in chronic illness communities.
Dr. Allison Ortigosa
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Allison Ortigosa, Ph.D., is a mission-driven bioprocess executive with 18+ years in pharma, leading cross-functional teams, advancing biologics, vaccines, and biosimilars, authoring global regulatory filings, and driving innovation with expertise, empathy, and proven impact at Merck and beyond.
Gabriella Fleischman
Board Member
A Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy at Harvard Kennedy School, Gabriella has lived experience with type 1 diabetes since age 14. Her research centers on health equity and economics.
Emily Lynn
Board Member
With an MBA and MPH, Emily brings deep experience in healthcare management. She leads projects focused on expanding patient access in ambulatory care through better technology and operations—advancing efficiency and patient-centered solutions.
Our Story
Project Insulin began with a question: If insulin has existed for over a century, why can’t people afford it? That question surfaced on World Diabetes Day (11/14) in 2020, during a conversation between Eric Moyal and Gabriella Fleischman. It led to months of deeper discussion about the experience of people living with insulin-dependent diabetes in the United States and the complicated history of insulin access.
They talked about how the scientists who discovered insulin in the 1920s sold the patent for just $1. Frederick Banting, the lead researcher, famously said, “Insulin does not belong to me. It belongs to the world.” Today, over 90 percent of insulin distributed globally is manufactured by just three companies. And despite the fact that patents for the latest insulins expired in 2015, prices tripled between 2010 and 2019.
Over the next year, they laid the groundwork for what would become Project Insulin. Founded as a nonprofit pharmaceutical company, Project Insulin has one clear mission: to ensure that everyone who depends on insulin has access to it. The strategy is simple, create a biosimilar insulin and sell it directly to patients at cost, regardless of insurance status.
Four years later, Project Insulin has hired its Chief Scientific Officer, selected a drug development partner, and is preparing to begin development of its biosimilar insulin glargine by the end of 2025. The organization is now focused on raising $1,000,000 to fund the next phase of its early-stage drug development.
Much has changed since that first conversation between Eric and Gabriella in November 2020, but the crisis that sparked it has not. Millions of people in the United States still cannot afford the insulin they need, and global access remains unequal. The need for a nonprofit alternative has only become more urgent.
