Michael Laufer, PhD, a college professor and leader in the growing biohacker movement, wants to teach patients how to make their own medications to subvert the drug industry's high prices, according to STAT.
Dr. Laufer made headlines last year when he and the medical collective he belongs to, Four Thieves Vinegar, shared a free online guide for how to make a homemade version of the EpiPen for about $30.
Now, Dr. Laufer is developing a desktop lab and recipe book to allow patients to produce various medicines right in their own kitchens. He plans to publish instructions for the "Apothecary MicroLab" — a general purpose chemical reaction patients can build for about $100 — online. He will also offer free recipes for expensive, brand- name medicines such as Gilead Sciences' hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi.
Many health professionals highlight the dangers of patients making their own drugs, but Dr. Laufer sees the DIY movement "as a moral crusade against the patent laws and market forces that let drug companies price vital remedies out of reach for many patients," according to STAT.
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