Pharma Hacker Michael Laufer Introduces the EpiPencil

Allergy season just got much worse with the outrageous price hike of the EpiPen. What use to be an affordable remedy to a life-threatening situation is now the cause of outrage amongst consumers. The cost of the EpiPen has soared 400 percent since 2008, and today’s cost is an estimated $600 for a 2-pack. The manufacturer, Mylan, has been accused of price gouging and using their monopoly to exploit the need for this life-saving medication for profit. Since news broke about the exorbitant rise in price, allergy sufferers have been looking for alternate solutions for medication.

In an exclusive interview with Michael Laufer for Owner’s Magazine, he explained the importance of access to medicine for all. He is the man behind Four Thieves Vinegar, the team on a mission to provide ways for individuals to produce their own medicine. The group created the automated lab reactor, made from off-the-shelf parts that you can put together at home. It has an open lab structure, where people order and manufacture their own drugs. Michael hopes that it is a stepping stone for other ways that people can take charge of their own health. He asks the question, “What is it that makes us human? The body and mind.” He believes that people should be able to take care of their body and mind as they see fit. It gives a greater sense of freedom, especially when it comes to managing your own health.

Michael Laufer is a Mathematician, and a professor at Menlo College located in Silicon Valley. His students are proud to be close to something revolutionary, the EpiPencil, an inexpensive device that is used to self-inject epinephrine. The epinephrine itself will require a prescription from a doctor. However, with $30 in materials, which include an auto-injector, syringe, and hypodermic needle, it is fairly easy to DIY at home. Michael provided links and instructions for assembly, making it easier than ever to access life-saving medication at an affordable price.

His fight for human rights began 10 years ago and has continued ever since. Michael Laufer made a visit to El Salvador and was shocked to learn that they ran out of birth control. It is a fairly simple drug, and he considered setting up shop to create it. That was how everything began. Michael Laufer hopes to release a beta stage automatic lab reactor within the year. The challenge is for people to look at it as the next big thing, like how we looked at computers years ago. He believes that the automatic lab reactor will provide individual freedoms in the future. It should bypass skill level and be controlled by a mechanism. It utilizes chemical pathways with wider margin for error.

Today, Michael Laufer is growing his team, looking for chemists and underwriters. Four Thieves Vinegar is growing slowly, breaking down barriers put up by big pharma. The EpiPencil is only the beginning of what’s to come. Michael Laufer’s fight for human rights will continue, helping people put their lives in their own hands.