Do a search here. China is not a reliable source.
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Its hard to know what the prices are for the rapamycin / sirolimus API (active pharmaceutical ingredient) that the Zydus and Biocons of the world are paying. Yes - they buy the APIs from China, but its going to be in the high kgs in terms of purchase volume, so of course the prices will be low. But if individuals are paying anything like $100/kg it tells me that the product is either fake or highly adulterated.
Ultimately - its well known that generic drug companies don’t have significant margins - so they aren’t making a ton of money.
Here are the comparisons in terms of gross profit margins of the major (branded) Pharma companies vs. the generics:
Source:
Profit margin for generics manufacturers worldwide 2019 | Statista.
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In India, the price is around $1/mg, which is pretty cheap. Not “metformin” cheap, but not unaffordable.
A reasonable question is why does it cost 3 to 5 X in the USA vs. India… I don’t know. Generally pharmaceuticals are much more expensive in the USA, and generally they charge more because they can. See details here: Why I love Big Pharma, and why you should too - #24 by adssx
Proabably another factor is that rapamycin / sirolimus is a very “niche” market, its primarily for organ transplant patients and its used less and less for that because there are better drugs out there now for that application. So - a very small market… which always drives up prices.
There are only a few hundred thousand organ transplant patients in the US, but the number of diabetics is in the tens of millions, so metformin will always be a lot cheaper.
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I understand about the company profit… But running a corporation, there was so many ways to hide the profits. I can be making losses for years and still survive.
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I google up Rapamycin price in China, it was pretty cheap to the locals.
Ah - but I think you’re talking about raw materials (API), not for tablets. We’ve had forum members in China ask about how to import from India: How to buy cheap Rapamycin in China
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I was quoted 100 USD for 10g. It was a reliable pharmaceutical source. At the end I did not order it. I wanted to use it for topical, but then I found a pharmacy that could do it.
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why the downer on concrete pianos? That’s a genius idea.
It’s the concrete space rocket that never took off (literally)
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I was looking into the global market for sirolimus to see what it is currently used for and the trend in medical use seems to be upward, which surprised me.
“Data Bridge Market Research analyzes that the global sirolimus market which was USD 280.13 million in 2023, is expected to reach USD 424.23 million by 2031, and is expected to undergo a CAGR of 4.6% during the forecast period of 2024 to 2031”
One adjacent question, what’s a reasonable supply to stockpile given the risk of shortages if current trials show a strong positive signal? Given the scale of production supply could easily be exhausted. Inadequate Wegovy supply for example will take 2 years to resolve.
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I really don’t put much faith in any of those market research reports… they are all over the web, and I suspect many of them are a couple of guys in a sweatshop in India churning out reports with little understanding of the markets. And its even worse now with AI and ChatGPT churning them out.
On stockpiling… 2.5 year rapa supply ordered, thanks for the advice!
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Acoustics. A piano is a string instrument like guitars and violins. So the quality of the wood affects the sound.
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Screw bitcoin! I’m putting all my savings in Rapamycin - do they sell futures? Maybe I could build a silo in Antarctica for stockpiling.
@RapAdmin On stockpiling… 2.5 year rapa supply ordered, thanks for the advice!
I thought that thread was kinda kidding when it started out but then it looked like people were taking it seriously and getting ready to fly to Turkey with Steamer Trunks.
I can just imagine the future, after the nuclear holocaust, people in their concrete underground bomb shelter. Well, we’re just about out of food and water…but we’ve still got plenty of Rapamycin! You guys really are nuts.
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We see 'em every day here in Mexico, the down-on-their-luck expats just getting by on a few tortillas a day. “What happened, I thought you were doing pretty well?”…“yeah, but I got on some forum on the internet and got overtaken by irrational exuberance and put all my money on Metformin.”
I get my metformin here (Mexico) at Costco without a prescription. It’s so cheap, when they say “how many ya want?”, I say “Aw, just give me a thousand.” Then whenever I go out for a walk, I just stuff my pockets with 'em and when I see a beggar on the street and they say “buddy can you spare a few pesos?” I say “No, but here’s a metformin…probably better for you than that cheap tequila.” Ironic isn’t it?
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Rumor has it Zuck’s filling his bunker with rapamycin 
Mark Zuckerberg's Reported Underground Bunker: What To Know | TIME
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Gross margin and profit margin are different quantities. So you can’t really compare these two.
As a way of comparison, I just checked Eli Lilly. Their gross margin was 79% in 2023, their net margin (i.e. - profit margin) was 15% in 2023.
This having been said, I generally agree with your point.
Glad you mentioned Bryan Johnson. (Well, first I will say that he and his nutritionist gf are already getting great pleasure posting pics of them with celebrities… and I’ll note, i liked the gf after meeting her on clubhouse and getting some great recipes… and then i saw her post a photo of herself on a private plane with a bunch of insta influencers… then i realized, even if she is smart, just like her bf, I can’t 100% trust the motives any longer… is it because they are saying the right things, maybe… or is it so they can be influencers and cash in, maybe… )… i digress… ok, so do the people here tend to believe/follow Johnson? So far I do, and I ordered his cocoa (which I don’t like, fwiw), but I’m eyeing his supplements that are soon coming out… he SEEMS like a guy who is legit and would only put out quality in this arena, but am i a sucker, just like i was when buying NMN and resveratrol … Huberman had his name on his stuff from momentous so i was thinking maybe NMN is legit.or he is just like everyone else… I have no idea so I’m asking 
… wow that was a long ramble… sorry, not sorry . Hope i didn’t need to proofread because I’m not!
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I think everyone ( or certainly close) would like to be famous, even if it’s only on facebook, or instagram or Tiktok (or dare I say it, here), you want to be recognized for something. It’s a cultural obsession now. So, I cut Bryan Johnson and his girlfriend and even David Sinclair some slack on that front. The companion truth is everyone (almost) wants to be rich, and here it gets tricky because it’s even more corrupting. It’s all about how far you go to get those 2. A little spin, a little white lie, a little click-bait…OK. As I said, it’s the culture now. I saw you post on Matt Kaerberlein/David Sinclair thread. and if you didn’t see, here are 2 of my posts that address this:
https://www.rapamycin.news/t/matt-kaeberlein-resigns-from-academy-for-health-and-lifespan-research-calls-david-sinclair-a-snake-oil-salesman/12523/82?u=ng0rge
As it relates to Bryan Johnson just replace the money/profit goal with Fame (he already has money) because they both have huge social rewards and again look at how much of his honesty/integrity he’s willing to sacrifice. In my opinion, so far, I think Bryan Johnson is less tainted and more trustworthy but both he and Sinclair are rich and famous, so keep in mind the maxim “Power corrupts”. And ask yourself (for one of his products), do I really need it? Or is there something out there that does the same thing but is cheaper because it doesn’t have his name on it. At this point, my impression is that people here certainly follow and tend to believe Bryan Johnson way more than David Sinclair for instance. He (Bryan) seems well liked here.
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People who are wealthy rarely wish to be famous. However people who are famous always wish to be wealthy. Once you are famous, it’s hard to give up your fame but even harder to make it last. Once you are wealthy, you have to really try hard to lose your wealth.
If I could choose only one, I’d choose wealth. And in today’s society, it’s not hard to get.
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Hmmm, So Bryan Johnson is trying hard to stay under the radar?
And Elon Musk and the others? I’m not buying it.
In the old days, it may have been that people realized that fame came with a cost and some tried to avoid it (J.D. Salinger). But as I said above, today, fame is “coin of the realm” and everybody from Warren Buffet down is not going to waste the opportunity to use it.
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For every Bryan Johnson or Elon Musk there are 100 people you’ve never heard of that are just as rich. I said the wealthy rarely, seek fame, not never.
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