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Eric Moyal, founder of Project Insulin, joins Bill Bartholomew to explain how his nonprofit is working to create and sell generic insulin directly to patients at cost. The conversation covers the insulin affordability crisis, why Rhode Island can be a powerful place for early-stage startup growth, and what it takes to build a long-term biotech project in a tough fundraising environment.
00:00 - Introduction to Eric Moyal and Project Insulin
00:08 - How Project Insulin plans to sell insulin at cost
00:42 - The real cost of insulin for patients without insurance
01:11 - Why a few for-profit manufacturers control the market
02:10 - Learning the issue through a partner with type 1 diabetes
03:06 - The statistic that pushed him to get involved
03:36 - Why this is a nonprofit and fundraising challenge, not just a science problem
04:27 - Rhode Island’s push into health and sciences
05:26 - Why Rhode Island was a strong place for early-stage growth
06:23 - Social Enterprise Greenhouse and the accelerator experience
07:41 - Why Rhode Island works best as an early-stage startup ecosystem
08:45 - Why building major pharmaceutical infrastructure in-state is difficult
09:11 - Rhode Island’s interpersonal network as its “secret sauce”
10:33 - The idea of Rhode Island as a pass-through for talent and growth
11:51 - Why not every business needs to become a billion-dollar unicorn
13:34 - Why raising money for a long-horizon nonprofit is difficult
14:54 - Project Insulin’s current fundraising target and development phase
15:46 - Long-term plans for national and global insulin distribution
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