The year 1982 marked a huge step in diabetes care and ushered in a new era of drug production, thanks to the development of Humulin", the first fully human insulin product. Until then, diabetes patients were given insulin derived from animal sources, mostly cattle and pigs. At around the same time, advancements in gene technology finally allowed for the manufacturing of fully human insulin.
The molecule insulin was discovered in the early 1920s, and the first injections of insulin from cattle into humans quickly followed. Although this early insulin was extremely impure and had numerous side effects, it certainly saved the lives of many diabetics.
In the following decades there were further advancements in the development of insulin, including improvements in purity and the chemical synthesis of human insulin. In 1978 researchers at Genentech, Inc., in San Francisco, California began working on producing fully human insulin from recombinant DNA in the bacterium Escherichia coli (E. coli). The development and manufacture of this type of insulin was quickly picked up by the Eli Lilly company in 1982, when Humulin" production was approved. Two types were produced—Humulin R (for rapid effect) and Humulin® N (a longer-lasting version).
Humulin" was the first nonanimal-based insulin, as well as the first approved genetically engineered pharmaceutical product. DNA was made synthetically, put into E coli bacteria for processing into protein, and the resulting product purified. Humulin® was free of any animal contaminants and could be produced in huge quantities. This was welcome news to diabetes patients who depended on animal-based insulin. Four types of Humulin" are produced by Eli Lilly today, for use by approximately 4 million diabetes patients.
