You can’t fault California Gov. Gavin Newsom for lack of ambition. “California is going to make its own insulin. It’s simple,” he said this month. A government that can’t maintain a functioning electricity grid now plans to manufacture a complex biologic drug.

Mr. Newsom says the state will spend $100 million to develop low-cost insulin and build an in-state manufacturing facility. Piece of cake. Well, actually, manufacturing insulin is a complicated process that even large drug makers struggle with. Biologic drugs such as insulin are complex and often made from living cells or tissue.