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Cost of developing new drugs may be lower than industry claims: trial

(www.theguardian.com)
275 points swores | 3 comments | 25 Apr 24 12:25 UTC | HN request time: 0s | source
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hi-v-rocknroll ◴[26 Apr 24 19:23 UTC] No.40173019[source]▶
Semaglutide retails for $17k USD/year in the US but costs only $60 to make. Perhaps it could be argued that the autoinjectors are "expensive", but not $17k/year and oral forms are coming online to make this item moot. In limited circumstances, excessive profits cross into the realm of price gouging and shouldn't be allowed by regulatory enforcement.
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0cf8612b2e1e ◴[26 Apr 24 19:48 UTC] No.40173374[source]▶
The first pill of a drug costs $1 billion to make. The remainder are all $0.01 a piece.
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1. willcipriano ◴[26 Apr 24 20:01 UTC] No.40173557[source]▶
900 million or so of the total is used in the most important part of drug safety, share buybacks.
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2. ProjectArcturis ◴[26 Apr 24 21:42 UTC] No.40174646[source]▶
Wait, these companies are making PROFITS that they're returning to INVESTORS??? I don't know whether to call 60 Minutes, the FBI, or The Daily Worker.
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3. willcipriano ◴[27 Apr 24 14:03 UTC] No.40180023[source]▶
"Free market rah rah rah"

"Let's reimport drugs then"

"No! The poor drug companies! How could they survive!"