Today we’d like to introduce you to Pranav Pinapala.
Hi Pranav, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
I am currently a molecular biology researcher, a proud Type 1 Diabetic, & an affordable healthcare advocate! One of the things that I truly enjoy working on is the organization I founded, Combat The Patent Prices! Combat The Patent Prices is a student-led nonprofit fighting against pharmaceutical patent abuse & advocating for affordable prescription drug prices through grassroots social media campaigns, health equity activism, comprehensive youth-oriented policy resources, and state-specific chapter initiatives.
My story begins just a couple of years ago when I was diagnosed with Type 1 Diabetes, which caused a serious change in my daily routine. I had to count my carbohydrates before meals, manage my blood sugar levels, and give myself external insulin injections. Despite having all the resources to better my life, I was still unhappy with the difficulties of my chronic illness. However, this changed immediately once I realized that working-class Americans could not even afford basic vials of insulin, a drug which they needed to survive.
I soon began to notice the incredibly high price of insulin and many other prescription drugs. Some were rationing their supply while others had to choose between eating or buying their medication. With my research experience in health policy and my involvement in progressive political campaigns, I attempted to chart & understand why prices were set so high. Understanding that the blame circled around not only pharmaceutical companies & their unbreakable monopoly but also around Pharmacy Benefit Managers & lawmakers, I set out to bring change.
With an aim to lower drug prices by impacting policies relating to pharmaceuticals & public health needs, I started Combat The Patent Prices. With a dedicated team of over 150 employees and over 2000 advocates, we worked on patient advocacy and greater policy education to help lower drug prices. Through focusing on America’s pharmaceutical industry, the unfair prescription drug prices, and the need for reform in pharmaceutical patent law, we are actively working on policy education and support with large advocacy organizations aiming to end the pharmaceutical monopoly and lower prescription drug prices. My goal is to support policies to lower drug prices, prevent pharmaceutical evergreening in patents, and hold pharmaceutical companies accountable.
Alright, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There were definitely a lot of struggles in our journey of advocacy. These issues dealing with access to affordable medications and pharmaceutical companies aren’t issues that will disappear overnight. So when we started the organization, it was just me, Ryan, & Claire, who are the other main directors. When we started our policy papers and advocacy initiatives, nobody really paid attention to our work because it was unfamiliar in student circles and a lot of the bigger advocates weren’t sure about us because we were just high school students. A lot of fellow students were apprehensive about joining a new advocacy organization, doubting our potential and the work we were doing. Having a growth mindset and continuing without giving up really helped us keep trying even when things weren’t working out at all. I knew that the advocacy work in this field is important and even if we don’t make an impact yet, we have to keep trying. We worked on our events, seminars, & papers to foster student interest in health policy and continue advocating for affordable drug prices.
Eventually, more advocates from big organizations like Universities Allied for Essential Medicines & Health Advocacy Summit began to notice and support our grassroots media campaigns. They lent us support and through associations with their local chapters, we began to put out our policy & media work to a larger audience. Working with these organizations and speaking at committee meetings made me understand that this advocacy work is something that will always be necessary because solving issues with prescription drug prices and the overall healthcare crisis will take a long time and a lot of effort. Despite our initial struggles, knowing that our mission is very important helped us gain more support, members, and courage to keep fighting our battle to push for policies to lower drug prices and make healthcare accessible & affordable.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
As a student in high school, I’m not entirely sure what I want to do with my future, but I know that I will continue my work in social justice and accessibility to medicines. I believe my dedication to the fields of health policy & health equity is what I’m really known for, other than my love for The Lonely Island. Not that many young adults are interested in the struggle for access to healthcare and I believe my work with Combat The Patent Prices to be very important. I work a lot on policy analysis & input with proposed bills surrounding Medicare negotiations and implementing federal regulations on drug pricing. While focusing on policy education mainly, we work a lot on our social media advocacy, articles surrounding health equity, and most importantly chapter development. Handling chapter establishment in various states is difficult, but it’s a very important aspect. The chapter I have helped establish focus on local advocacy relating to patients, state-specific proposed policies, & fostering student involvement in health policy.
I think one of the proudest moments for our organization was when we’re invited to the Rx Allies committee meeting, which featured many prominent advocates discussing prescription drug pricing and the current patent system. We were given the opportunity to present our organization’s advocacy work and it was a big moment for us because many of the advocates loved that we were working on such important topics as high schoolers. In fact, this was a defining point for our future work with large health policy-oriented advocacy organizations.
Besides health policy & my advocacy for affordable prescription drug prices, I am very dedicated to increasing student interest in medicine and I find molecular biology to be a very interesting field. For student interest in STEM & Medicine, I also run a second organization called STEM Regenerate which focuses on medical studies & research. I’m known for focusing on unconventional topics and what really sets me apart is my interest in both health equity & medicine. I believe these two fields will eventually become intertwined with each other as the treatment of patients is just as important as its affordability & accessibility. Other than my work, I love playing table tennis and I’m a follower of Representative John Lewis’ ideals. I also am a 2nd-degree Karate Black Belt and a huge fan of Michael Schur shows like “The Office” & “Brooklyn Nine-Nine.”
Do you have any advice for those looking to network or find a mentor?
To start my advocacy organization, networking and finding mentors were two very crucial steps. To build the organization, I needed to find other students interested in advocacy work and health policy, which required a lot of networking. So using LinkedIn for networking really helped me. That’s how I was able to find Ryan & Claire, who helped build crucial policy and marketing teams for our organization. I think really, the first step in networking is just being courageous & reaching out to people who you share similar views with.
As per finding a mentor, it really helps to just find someone you look up to, who has already gained prominence for their work in that field. Networking plays a huge role here too. For me, when I found an interest in health policy, access to medicines, & patient advocacy, I was really inspired by Sneha Dave, Tahir Amin, & Priti Krishtel. Sneha Dave works heavily in patient advocacy with Health Advocacy Summit while Tahir Amin & Priti Krishtel have done award-winning work with I-MAK to redefine the pharmaceutical patent system. Networking with such prominent advocates through LinkedIn & and asking them questions is really what helped us grow our organization. Their work inspires me to continue my efforts to advocate for affordable medication and encourage student involvement in health policy & health equity.
Contact Info:
- Email: Pranavspinapala@combatthepatentprices.com
- Website: https://combatthepatentprices.com
- Instagram: https://instagram.com/combatthepatentprices
- Twitter: https://twitter.com/combatpatents
- Other: https://open.spotify.com/show/6bqSsiHNn3LbyiehdgHK3R?si=f1NbszTpSKakxYyWJs3YnA&dl_branch=1
Image Credits:
Zoom Pictures of Meetings, Events, Discussions, & Advocacy Sessions
